Elegiac
by Maiden of the Moon
Summary: “Your first day as a human will cost you your Past. The second, your Present. The third, your Future. In short,” the sea witch purred, staring into the mermaid’s dumbstruck eyes, “come day three, I’ll own your soul. And you will not get it back.” EdxBe AU
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer:_ There's so much here that I don't own that it's not even funny. Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, Disney and Hans Christian Anderson own the concept of The Little Mermaid, and the title of this fic was 'inspired by' (read as: 'stolen from') a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem by the same name. (God, I love that man.)

_Author's Note:_ Originally this was a storyline I was going to write up for the "Strawberry Panic" fandom, using the characters Negisa as Ariel and Shizuma as Ursela. At some point in the future I'd still like to write this story as a yuri (or, for you readers who have no idea what that Japanese slang means, a lesbian romance); however, I was stupid enough to play the Jonas Brothers' version of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" tonight, which always makes me think of Edward and Bella for some reason that even I don't fully comprehend. Which brings me to where I am right now.

To be completely frank, I don't expect a lot of people to enjoy this story: it will be AU, it will be dark, Edward will be a little evil. But personally, I like my heros with a hint of malevolence in them… and besides, this is what fanfiction is for, right? In any case, I hope this heaping helping of insanity can find a place to rest in some readers' hearts.

I hope you all enjoy! (…or, if you don't, you're kind enough not to flame me.)

**XXX**

**ELEGIAC**

**Prologue**

**XXX**

There was only darkness.

And that, more than anything else, was what frightened the small creature. Though her watery homeland had always been gloomier than the world above, never before had she ventured so deep into the abyss: further than even the currents dared. She supposed that, even if she'd been able to see properly, there wouldn't have been much on the barren sand floor. No pretty shells, no coral reefs… She had been surprised—and a bit nervous—to notice the skeletal remains of an eroded wooden ship hovering in the inky haze to her right, illuminated by the wandering glow of a lantern-head fish. Torn between her disgust for the twisted, slack-jawed animal and her mounting desire for light, she briefly considered calling the thing over… But she knew that even the lantern-head's ethereal radiance was not enough to puncture the blackness of the cavern before her.

_H—hello…?_ she called softly, cursing the waver in her soft voice. There was no answer; perhaps she hadn't been heard. _Hello?_ she whispered a second time, fingers clasped to her chest. She had been able to keep the tremble from reverberating through her speech, but it had migrated to her hands instead.

Still no response. The gaping triangular hole in the bedrock remained dead-silent and murky… as if it were a slice of the mortal's night sky.

_Sea witch…?_ She inched closer to the cave; her words now rung with an echo, bouncing off of the unseen walls. _Are you there? I've come to… to make a dea— ahh!_

It happened in half of a millisecond. Before she could move, before she could blink—before the words had even completely left her mouth— something had grabbed her, yanked her... pulled her forward as if by an invisible force.

"Say it again," a hidden speaker demanded in a voice both silken and bursting with glee. A shudder shot down her spine; the same thing seemed to happen to the shadow. And as the voice tightened in the shade's throat, so did the force around her waist— only it wasn't a _force_ at all. As her eyes continued to adjust, as she squinted towards her concealed company, she noticed the faint outline of something connecting her middle to the silhouette in the mouth of the cave.

Her stomach dropped as understanding struck her.

It was a tentacle. Ebony, slick, and as thick as her torso.

Urgently, she floundered to collect her thoughts, to swallow away her fear. But before she could accomplish anything of consequence, a second fleshy coil joined the first; this time, her arms were bounded as if by rope.

"Say it _again,_" the voice hissed, good humor gone. A milky white hand, fingers long and splayed, crept from the gloom to clutch the coarse corner of the cave—as if the body it belonged to were preparing to strike.

The words flew from her mouth in a rush.

_I've come to make a deal with you!_ she choked, tears of terror welling in her wide eyes. Though her body was completely immobilized, she could feel herself quivering all the same. _I need your help!_

"My help…"

A deep chuckle; the oily hold loosened. Instead of a death-grip, it became more of a… caress.

"Ah… a poor lost soul looking for assistance." The speaker seemed entertained again; there was the sound of a deep, rejuvenating breath. "Ahhh… already I feel more _complete_— it has been far too long… But oh, where are my manners? Come in, my dear."

Slowly, pointedly, the tentacles began to unwind, their suctioned hold dragging her closer and closer to the hole that served as an entrance. She was helpless to resist, unable to flee… Once the last cup had gently pulled itself from her skin and scales, she was already completely immersed in the midnight of the undersea cavern.

"Hurry now, pet," the voice purred from somewhere ahead. "There's no need to be afraid."

There was no where to go but forward.

**X  
**

It defied logic.

There was no way a room this far from the shore, this deep in a cave, this late at night could be so… luminous. And yet, the large, round cavern shone the same pale-white as the human world did in the early dawn; the ghostly glow caught off the numerous bottles and containers of multi-colored sea glass that lined the cracked stone walls. The reflection and refraction of light made both the floor and ceiling shimmer with waves of iridescent color.

But that wasn't all— the improbability continued. Boulders and giant clam shells had been moved and positioned in what seemed to be an imitation of human furniture. There was a table in the center of the circle, upon which a cauldron spewing opalescent inks had been placed; two chairs, facing each other from across the room, had been fashioned as well. She had never seen anything like it…at least, not under water.

But all of that seemed trivial and inconsequential when compared to the most incredible thing in the vicinity: him.

Yes. He was, unquestionably, the most astonishing of all.

As she had absorbed every detail of the impossible room, he had chosen to absorb _her_, lounging in the seat farthest from the entry with a faint smile upon his face. He propped his chin lightly on the fingers of his left hand, draping his right arm across the back of the chair; when her gaze reached his body, the half-grin became a delicious leer.

He was beautiful. And he seemed to know it, too: the slight curl of his copper hair, the marble-white hue of his skin, the toned perfection of his torso… the delicate creep of what looked to be midnight-colored silk up his hipbones; in the opposite direction, the blossoming flair of a half-dozen tentacles, each over 2 yards in length.

She could feel her cheeks darken in color as the butterflies in her stomach were killed in a rush of heat.

A deep-throated chuckle.

"Surprised?" he asked lightly, thick lashes half-lidded in lazy amusement. She must have looked mildly dazed by this inquiry, for he soon added: "I am referring to you having discovered my identity, of course. Most hear the title 'sea witch' and assume I am… of the gentler sex."

His green eyes—the same dark emerald as the seaweed binding her chest— glittered with unheard laughter. "I can assure you," he murmured in a low breath, standing with a roll of his hips, "that nothing about me is gentle."

The truth of the words sent a bolt of electricity directly to her core.

"Now then, to business," the sea witch said calmly, turning to face his collection of jars and bottles. But even as he turned away, a tentacle shot forward, curling possessively around the girl's scaled hips and sneaking upward, keeping her rooted to the spot. "What is it that I can do for you, my love? Poison? Curse? Enchantment? Perhaps a spell?"

He paused when he felt an answering shiver tear up and down her lithe body. "Ooo. A spell indeed. More specifically, dear heart?"

_I... _Hesitating, she cast a glance to her left and right; his other tentacles seemed ready and waiting to snare her, as well. She gulped audibly. Even if she wanted to change her mind at this point… but she did not, so that was irrelevant. _I want... I want to be a human. _

Hand already on a thin-necked bottle constructed of blue sea glass, the man paused. Twisting his head to face her, he shot his client an incredulous glance. "Good God, why?" he nearly gagged, the glass in his grasp suddenly spider-webbed. But when he noticed the determination radiating from her pretty face, the disgust melted into amusement. "Ah, I see. You're in _love_, aren't you? Yes, yes, look at you blush. Well, now. _That_ is a different spell altogether…"

Musingly, his perfect face splitting in a near-maniacal smile, the sea witch began ripping jar after jar from his craggy-rock shelves, catching them with his free appendages. She watched the strange containers with curious eyes, trying to decipher what lay beyond the clouded glass…

But before she could make out even one ingredient, her body had been jerked forward by the tip of one dark tentacle, her chin tilted by another, her head locked in place by a third… as a single white finger traced the planes of her face with a lingering touch.

"Of course, there is one more _small_ matter before we begin, lovely." Those vivid green eyes blazed with delight; she felt more tangled in their sea-weed depths than she did in his web of six slippery limbs. "My fee."

The declaration filled her with crushing dread. _…fee?_

"Mmm," he purred his assent, malleable mouth morphing into a feral, close-lipped grin. "As always, there are terms and conditions and costs to be dealt with. Trite things, but we must discuss them first, you understand. Get them straightened and out of our way. Otherwise our whole relationship will be spoiled by arguments over such silly little details as how long I'll own your brain, and when you can expect your arms back…" He sighed airily, then graced her with a smile too stunning to be real. It took her breath away…

But it was not enough to distract her from his words. Though her loins were on fire, her heart felt like ice. _What kind of fees?_ she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

His dark eyes crinkled warmly at the corners, but their jade-green depths had turned to irritated gemstone. "Never mind the _fees_, my dear. Think of what you'll gain! For three full days, you will be human… and if you can earn the kiss of the one you love—of the one who loves you back—fully and truly, you shall remain a human until your dying breath."

_Human…_ She murmured desirously, as if in a trance. But her dark brown stare cleared after a moment, and her expression filled with panic after another. _But what will it cost me?_

A chortle; the sea witch seemed impressed by her tenacity. "Nothing of great consequence, sweet one. Merely—" A soft brush of fingertips against her neck, enough pressure applied to make her feel the hollowness of her own throat— "your voice."

_My—? _Face tense with trepidation, she began quivering once more. It was not the reaction the sea with had desired. Growling in frustration, he raked his hands through his hair, his tentacles snapping like a whip; she was thrown into the distant chair with such force that she could _feel_ bruises form.

"Don't be a fool!" the sea witch roared, trapping her with his arms as she cowered in the seat, pulling her fin to her chin. All around her, his tentacles pulsed with vehemence. "What good does your voice do you now, anyway? You do not speak as humans do— as you are, he would not understand you if you tried to talk on land! And even if you had your voice as a human, you wouldn't get to _use_ it—men on land don't _like_ to hear women chatter. You're better off without one! So what are you complaining for?! I am essentially giving you this spell for free, and this is how you thank me?! If you want to be human, you _will_ give me your voice!"

In the wake of his snarls, she nodded exuberantly— anything to keep him from destroying her on the spot. Her speedy acceptance was just what the sea witch wanted to see: his god-like face melted into another charmed smile as he released a pleased sigh.

"Most excellent. You _won't_ be disappointed, my dear." The hands that had been clenched on either side of her head loosened; two idle fingers stroked her cheek in a tender, soothing rhythm, as if trying to calm her nerves.

It simply made the tremors worse.

"Now, in addition to my meager fee, I'm afraid I do have to inform you of one tiny little snag in the potential tapestry of your new self-portrait." He grinned lazily, unconcerned, as he continued fondling her face. She listened intently to each word… but it grew increasingly harder to concentrate as his petting drifted downward…

"This spell requires quite a bit of magic to perform: each day you try to be something new, you must sacrifice something old. You cannot be two separate creatures; you cannot hold onto your life in the sea if you wish to walk on land. Ergo, your first day as a human will cost you your Past. The second, your Present. The third, your Future. In essence," he summarized, relished pleasure in his velvet voice as he stared into her dumbstruck eyes, "come day three, I'll own your soul. And you will not get it back."

For a moment, her heart stopped.

_My… soul?_

"Yes, precious," he whispered, so close to her that his gaze seemed black, rather than emerald. "You will belong to me for all of time."

_All of time._

Raw panic welled within her, thrashing like a creature drowning— but almost immediately, she calmed. In the back of her mind, she could hear two low voices giggling…

The sea witch's grin widened a few teeth on either side; he so loved to see the _fight_ leave their eyes. "Do we have a deal, child?" he breathed. Behind him, each tentacle stood poised over the churning caldron, quaking with anticipation.

She looked up at him, eyes ringed and weary with doubt… but she had no choice in the matter anymore.

…_yes._

An ear-shattering crack; an explosion of colors and smoke. The sea witch laughed with malicious satisfaction, his gaze never leaving hers. Instantaneously, a burning sensation—an impossibly raw, deep, searing, excruciating burning sensation, one that had her in near-convulsions, clawing at her neck—began pulsing in the very center of her throat, seeping its way slowly downward.

_Wha—?!_ she choked, eyes swimming with milky tears of pain. _What is…?_

"My fee," the sea witch informed lazily, watching her writhe in his ebony grip as mirth danced behind his eyes. "A reminder that it needs to be paid in full before your transformation can _truly_ begin."

_Then hurry up and—ah—!_

A low, husky chuckle rumbled through the lissom body; ice-cold hands—spindle-thin and delicate— moved to cup the flailing girl's chin. Out of apprehension, she stilled: he had been close before, but this… !

"There's only one way to extract a voice, Bella," he purred, staring amusedly down his nose at the mermaid in his embrace. Whatever space had remained between her mouth and his vanished in an instant.

Bella's world turned black.

**XXX**


	2. Day One: Past

_Disclaimer:_ 'No' on so many levels. Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer; The Little Mermaid belongs to both Disney and Hans Christian Anderson; "The Sound of the Sea" (Edward and Bella's song) belongs to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

_Author's Note:_ I admit, I'm a little terrified. It's been so long since I've written a chapter-fic… I'm not sure I have it in me anymore. Please be patient with me as I try!

Speaking of, I should probably get it out there now— this fic will be 4 sections long: 1 prologue and 3 chapters. Just so you know. (…and now you do.)

_Warnings: _Dark. Flashbacks and back-story (as shown by _italics_). One-sided JacobxBella (Ugh. I hate myself a little right now.) Tentacle rape! (Nah, just kidding about that last one. Sorry.)

**XXX**

**ELEGIAC**

**Day One: Past**

**XXX**

_Blackness._

_Thick and deep and silent, and the only thing Bella knew. Briefly she wondered if she was still trapped in the depths of the sea witch's lair, but no—this darkness was more solid, somehow. Solid, yet freer. As if she'd been locked in a dream…_

Oh, _she thought, blinking rapidly. It didn't remove the clouds from her eyes, but it made her feel better to move. As it was, she was merely floating, floating, floating…_Perhaps this _is_ a dream.

_The gloom turned white. _

_And then there was neither darkness nor light, but a calm, deep blue. It was everywhere, above and below, and Bella knew in an instant that she was home. Unfortunately, that realization only left her with more questions: how did she get back here? What had happened? Why was she… why was she swimming so fast? Struggling to remember the chain of events that had brought her to this point, Bella slowed. It all very odd— she'd had a purpose when she'd begun. What was going on?_

_Fuzzily, the mermaid lifted a hand to scratch her temple, cocking her head in deep concentration. But as the movement jostled her face, she felt something cool and slippery slide down her chin. Her eyes widened in surprise as an opalescent bead drifted downward, landing in her open palm._

_A pearl._

_And then there was another, and another, and another._

_She was… crying? Why was she crying? _

_Bewildered, Bella made a valiant effort to stop the milky flow from her eyes, but the more she tried the more futile the attempt seemed. This made no sense, why was she—? _

_Wait._

_This seemed… familiar, somehow. As if she were suffering déjà vu._

I am… I am beautiful, _she heard herself whisper, the words falling from her mouth as if of their own accord. _I am not a… a monster…

_But her quiet insistence only made the pearls form faster._

I am not a monster! _Bella said more adamantly, the declaration growing in pitch and fury as her tail pumped faster, pushing her forward at breakneck speeds. Schools of multicolored fish dashed unnoticed past her blurred eyes; she remained ignorant of the dolphin pod playing in her peripheral vision, of the rainbow coral below her... But her stomach rolled in disgust as rays of sunlight caught on her scales, making them shimmer. _I am not a monster…!

"Of course you aren't."

_Her heart nearly stopped. _

_All but skidding to a halt, Bella whirled in a horrified circle, fruitlessly searching for the voice that had startled her. _Who's there?_ she cried, pushing her clouds of billowing mahogany hair away from her face. All around her grew plumes of seaweed and pocketed statues of stone; there were too many hiding places to search subtly… And the voice seemed to come from everywhere. _Who's there?! _Bella repeated, hands clenched above her chest._

"Only a comrade who wishes to see you smile," _the voice sang, apparently unaware of Bella's evident fear. _"What saddens you so, little mermaid?"

I… I don't like that I don't know who I'm talking to, _Bella hesitated, backing slowly away from… well, she didn't know what. _Come out if you wish to speak to me.

_A little sigh._

"I would, my friend, but I'm afraid your beauty makes me self-conscious," _the unseen speaker lamented, sounding extraordinarily put-out. _"I'd much rather stay here, where you cannot look upon me."

Yeah. Sure. _Snorting disdainfully, Bella curled her bottom lip in distaste. _Please don't lie to me_. _I know that I'm a monster, _she muttered, toying with the fins that blossomed from her hips._

"_You_?" _the orator gasped, genuine disbelief in her voice. _"Whatever gave you _that_ idea?"

I…_ The mermaid faltered, then quickly shook her head— as if trying to dislodge and erase the thoughts from it. _It doesn't matter. I am what I am, and nothing will ever change that.

"That's not true."

_The voice spoke with such certainty, such confidence, that it made Bella pause; her forehead bunched in curiosity that she could not mask. _

What makes _you_ so sure? _she asked, torn between exasperation and interest._

"Because I, sweet child, can see the future… and I know what could be."

_Bella glowered. _That's impossible.

"Says who?"

Mortals, for one.

"Don't mortals also call mermaids impossible?"

_The girl paused, her heart fluttering. _W—well…

"My friend, you are not a monster," _the invisible speaker purred, soft and sweet and so insistent that Bella felt herself wavering. While she still wanted to find her concealed companion, this desire now stemmed from the mermaid's wish to speak more intimately with her, rather than know which direction to run. _"In fact, I don't even believe you're a mermaid. When I look at you, I see something… more. I see a _human._"

_Bella's breath left her in a rush, her eyes wide and full of distant longing. _R—really…? _she gasped… but even as enthusiasm struck her, she felt her dreams drain away, replaced by reality._ But… oh, what does it matter? No matter what you _see, _I'll still never—

"There is a way," _the invisible lecturer interrupted, fervor increasing the timbre of her tone._ "There is _always _a way, if you know where and how to look."

_It seemed too good to be true. _

_Bella's voice, already breathless from tears, trembled in her throat. _Then how…?

"My dear," _the faceless woman cooed, her words saccharine, warm, and affectionate. _"Have you ever heard of the sea witch…?"

**X**

"Bella…?"

_That's strange. How does the invisible voice know who I am? _Bella thought with a scowl, brow pinching in mystification. _…wait. This voice… it's different, somehow_. _Clearer. Closer._

Bemused by this discovery and wishing to investigate, the mermaid tried to answer, to move toward the lilting sound, but was stopped by the heavy disjointedness of her body; it felt as if gravity was suddenly pulling much harder. _Huh? What is this…? Why won't my tail budge?_

"Bella…"

As her name was called a second time, the warm blue that had been cradling her faded back into black; after another moment, it turned brilliantly white. A beat later—as if to enhance Bella's bewilderment—the vibrancy faded into a hazy glow, as if the main source of this colorless light lay just beyond her eyelids.

_Speaking of… _With a groan, Bella finally realized how abnormally _warm_ her front felt. Warm and pink and dry… Reminiscent of the hot summer days she used to spend floating on the surface waves, drinking in the sun. It was a nice, nostalgic feeling, but still somewhat disturbing: hadn't she been deep underwater only minutes ago? And why did her back feel as if it were being rubbed raw— like she was lying on top of something gritty and hard?

_Only one way to find out…_

Slowly, as if it pained her to do so, Bella gingerly pealed open her thick, salt-encrusted lashes… and immediately hissed, snapping them back shut.

_Where am I…?_

Someplace bright, that was all she knew. With a dazed toss of her head, Bella lifted a hand to shield her eyes, cautiously squinting in all directions. At first it was difficult to focus her gaze—all of the brightness made her vision black—, but gradually her sight returned: she was able to see just beyond her sheets of hair… then past the endless plains of pebble and sand… then to the steep white cliffs to the north. When she allowed her eyes to drift heavenward, she rediscovered a great blue sky that was almost as wide and deep as her ocean home; in its azure depths, a seagull cried. No, there was no longer any doubt in Bella's mind—she was not drifting through oblivion anymore, nor was she dreaming. Rather, she was squinting against the glare of the sun on the sea, her body a tangled heap on the rocky shore.

"Bella. Are you awake?"

_Oh yes. _Someone was calling her. Curious— and wishing to finally see the face behind the voice—Bella pushed herself onto her elbows, conscious of a lingering pain in her ta—

Her stomach dropped.

_Where is my tail?!_ she tried to scream… but nothing came from her throat at all. Not a gasp, not a squeak. Her hands flew to her throat, visible signs of her incomprehension. Yet that bafflement was not enough to mask the happiness shining in her eyes.

She had no tail. No gills. Where there had once been scales were now smooth planes of flesh: an abdomen, hips, thighs, feet. Fins no longer jutted from her sides; her fingers were free of their sheer webbing. And the parts of her that had always been humanoid had been enhanced: her breasts were fuller, rounder, and free of their seaweed bindings. Her lips, too, were larger, softer, and a color all their own. Her skin was no longer clammy and white: she was still pale, but in a more attractive, alabaster sort of way. Like a porcelain doll.

Like the sea witch.

At the thought of the sea witch, a wave of memories came rushing back—like the ebb and flow of the tide. _That's right, _Bella gawked, idly massaging her throat. As she did so, she distantly noticed that something had been tied around her neck—a necklace, she supposed—but she was too stunned to pay it any heed. _Yes, that's right. I went to see the sea witch. But… wait, why did I go there? I wanted to be human, but…_

"Bella? Are you feeling alright?"

_That voice._ With a jolt, Bella whipped her head to the left, impulsively scrambling in the opposite direction. Once reason had overcome instinct, she was mildly surprised and faintly pleased by the three inches of distance she'd been able to put between herself and the unknown speaker… seeing as how she couldn't make her feet work properly. _Wait. I've heard that voice before. But where? I feel like I've just forgotten something important, something right on the tip of my tong— oh my…_

As her gaze fell upon the stranger, all other thoughts disappeared.

Beside her, draped nonchalantly over a gigantic sun-bathed bolder, was the most beautiful human girl Bella had ever seen. Petite and perfectly proportioned, her ruffled black hair and wide, ebony eyes contrasted wonderfully with her pallid complexion and rosy cheeks. A gorgeous gown of teal silk had been draped expertly upon her person, threaded and belted with thin ropes of gold. She offered the stunned Bella a blithe smile, her flawless white teeth glittering in the light of dawn.

"Bella. Now, don't you look lovely?" she sang, almost alarmingly winsome. With a grace that Bella had never seen before, the girl rose to her feet, leapt from her perch, and walked comfortably barefoot over the rock-encrusted coast. She paused when she reached her silent comrade, practically looming over her… then sunk to her knees, entirely serene. "I told you I saw a human inside of you."

The finless mermaid blinked blandly; the mysterious young woman beamed. "…though I don't suppose you remember that conversation anymore, do you, my dear?" she chuckled, as if she found entertainment in her companion's ignorance.

Bella chose to ignore than rather baffling question in light of more pressing matters.

_Who _are_ you? _Though the words remained unheard—lacking even the sound of air passing over her lips— Bella had been unable to resist forming them, scooting another half an inch away from the gorgeous stranger. _And where are we? Why am I here? I'm having a hard time remembering… I mean, I know I went to the sea witch, and I know I wanted to be human but—_

Her mouth froze mid-vowel when an ice-cold finger gently brushed her lips, the gesture accompanied by a melodious giggle.

"Slow down, child," the girl soothed, shaking her head in amusement. "I can read lips, but not that well. Now, let me see…"

Settling back on her haunches, she ripped off one layer of translucent blue-green taffeta and wrapped it around Bella's shoulders. It didn't really help conceal her body at all, but it lessened the chill of the sea's occasional breezes. "My name, first and foremost, is Alice. I was sent by Edward to keep an eye on you… at least, until he can be here himself."

The attractive young woman—the enigmatic Alice— paused upon seeing the puzzled glitter in Bella's wide chocolate eyes. "Who is Edward?" she vocalized, tilting her head in an endearing sort of way, fingertips pressed lightly to the side of her face. "Why, he's the sea witch, of course. Even he has a name, silly girl. And anyway, as for where we are, well… I can only presume we're somewhere near your love. _You'd_ need to give me the details, but as you can no longer speak and your memory, I'm sure, is just the slightest bit… fuzzy… at the given time, I suppose we'll just have to work this out together, shall we? Oh, don't fret," she soothed, patting Bella's knee in a genial sort of way, undeterred by the terror she saw in the girl's drained face. "We have three whole days to do so—a virtual eternity."

_Love? _The word rolled around oddly in Bella's mind, familiar in that gnawing, irritating sort of way— an itch in the back of her brain. _Oh yes. Yes, there was a reason I wanted to be human. I wanted to show him that we… that I wasn't a monster. His was called…_

"Jacob?" Alice chirped, reading the name off of Bella's lips. "Wonderful. We have ourselves a starting place. See, dear? This won't be too terribly tricky—not at all. Why, you'll be celebrating true love's kiss in less than 72 short hours. And then you'll be mortal until your dying breath! Ah—hear that? That would be Jasper coming to pick us up!"

In the distance—over Alice's perpetual perky chatter—came the faint click-clacking of horses' hooves: a sound both sharp and reverberant as it echoed off of unseen cobblestone. Bella assumed there was a road just beyond the jutting cliffs… or perhaps past the sand dunes. Either way, the thought of standing to find out Bella's head spin.

Regrettably, her buried nausea was not shared by others.

"Come now, Bella! I thought you wanted to get away from the ocean," Alice encouraged, grabbing the girl's hands and giving them a valiant yank. It was a gesture that Bella would have resisted if she could, but she had no control over this new body and couldn't manage to pull away. As if she were some sort of doll, Alice hefted her to her feet…

At which point Bella immediately suffered a belly-churning head rush, the ground swimming beneath her as her legs wobbled like jelly. Before she could even act surprised, the newly-turned human passed out cold.

**X**

"_Get away from me!"_

_The rock hit the side of her face with a sickening _thud_; wide eyed, Bella touched the growing welt with trembling fingers. _

Jacob, _she tried to speak—but it was pointless to use her voice above the sea: the bell-sweet sound for which she had been named had been replaced by the screech of a banshee. _Jacob, please—what are you doing?!

_Another rock. This time it connected with her temple. The world spun; a thick green liquid oozed from beneath her hair. And as she teetered dangerously on the edge of consciousness, webbed fingers clenched around the beach sand to keep steady, she saw—as if in a dream—her Jacob move to draw an arrow from the quiver on his back._

"_Stay back, you monster!" he snarled, dark eyes narrowed and tan skin pasty from terror and disgust. His intricately carved bow creaked as he stretched its string taut; his fine velvet clothes rustled ominously. Beside him, a growling German Sheppard bared its fangs and barked._

Monster…? _Bella's bottom lip trembled, her mind reeling. _But Jacob, _she whimpered, the sound a grating squeak on the land. Her arms lifted as if to hold him. _I'm your f—

_An arrow grazed her cheek, a stinging wake-up call. _

"_Leave, you disgusting creature!" _

He means to kill me. _Terrified as the danger of her position finally sank in, Bella did her best to flee: flopping pathetically, clawing at the shore with her hands, wriggling away inch by inch as a volley of arrows bared down upon her. _

Jacob, please—!

"_GO! Monster!" _

_The tide swelled; her body vanished beneath a blanket of foam._

_Bella swam for her life._

**X**

"Bella. It's time to wake up."

She did not need telling twice.

Struck by a bizarre feeling of alertness, Bella's round eyes snapped open… though her forehead instantly crumpled in mild disorientation. How odd: she was moving—she could feel herself rock to and fro as if caught in the tide—and yet she was sitting still. Her body felt warm and clean. The sun had been dimmed, and the world around her smelt unusually sweet. What was going on now?

Straightening in place—for she seemed to have flopped over against… was that a wall?— Bella's inquisitive gaze flit back and forth so fast that she nearly strained her eyes; it took a moment for her to comprehend her current situation.

_A carriage…? _she mouthed soundlessly, amusement pulling on the corners of her lips as she relished the weirdness of the eccentric pink sphere she currently inhabited. The walls were cushioned with ripples and waves of pale, iridescent silk; the seat beneath her was velvet and adorned in a simple pattern of ornamental buttons. To her left and right were two rectangular windows bedecked in sheer orange drapes, and beyond the drapes was a view that took her breath away.

Forests. Valleys. Boulders and grass. Strange purple flowers and blossoming groves; conifers and leaves of every shade of green. All the elements of earth that Bella had never seen but dreamed about seemed to mix and mesh in the world beyond the glass as the carriage made its upward climb—scaling the mountain that overlooked the seaside kingdom.

Delighted, Bella pressed a hand against the window, never wanting to look away…

But was distracted by the color of her arm. Why was it…?

_Oh. Sleeves. I'm wearing… clothes. _Taken aback, Bella blinked down at her queer new body, filled with an innocent wonder. Now, instead of cracked pearls, weeds, and sand, she was adorned in an airy gown of sea-green taffeta. A corset of foam-white and gold looped around her middle; it was decorated with baby blue beads and seashells. On her feet—_I have feet!_—were slippers of the same pastel shade, and on her throat a velvet choker from which an aquamarine dangled.

"We took the liberty of dressing you. I thought it'd be best if we didn't present you naked to the prince."

Startled from her thoughts, Bella looked up and across the carriage: in a seat similar to her own, there sat two others. One was Alice, suddenly clad in a tight robe of lilac silk; she giggled and beamed in her amiable way, wiggling two fingers as if in greeting. The other, however, was unfamiliar—a scarred young man with fair hair… though his eyes were just as dark as Alice's, and he wore a matching tunic of the same color.

And he was equally as beautiful.

"We should be at the palace in a moment or two," the man spoke again. Dimly, Bella recalled Alice mentioning someone named Jasper—this must be him. "Are you ready to be reunited with your Jacob?"

_Jacob…?_

For some unknown reason, the mention of the prince's name made Bella's insides knot up; why that was, however, she could not figure out. _Jacob is my friend,_ she mused decisively, a little put-out by her sudden panic. _He'd never do anything to hurt me. _

Even as she thought the words, a rush of calm swept through her; she smiled and nodded at her entourage.

"Wonderful," Alice sang, leaning forward to clasp Bella's hands in her own. "Now, I feel we should let you in on one or two of the details of your visit. You are here under the guise of a princess— and we are both your servants and interpreters. You will stay for three days, along with a host of other young ladies all vying to be Jacob's bride."

_What? _Bella's back straightened in alarm. _Others? Why—_

"Your Jacob is having a 3-day-long festival," Jasper interrupted, and as he spoke Bella found herself feeling pacified and appeased… despite the toneless drawl in which he'd uttered his retort. "All to find a queen. Do not worry, this is actually quite serendipitous. It will be much easier for you to get your kiss if he's already looking for one."

"Besides, we doubt any other princess has magic on her side," Alice winked.

As if some imperceptible force had been cued by her words, the carriage came to an immediate stop. Alice tittered with excitement as Jasper rose and unlatched a hidden door, allowing a playful, salty wind to waft into the carriage.

"Come now," Alice chirped to Bella, again pulling at her hands. For a moment, Bella was afraid that this action would (for some reason or another) cause her to lose consciousness once more… but to her surprise and delight, she merely careened forward, propelled by her own desire to stand.

She wasn't very good at it; it was only Jasper's lightening reflexes that saved her from meeting the cobblestone street face to face. Thankfully, to any onlooker it would appear that Bella had intentionally been swept, bridal style, into the arms of her servant.

Nevertheless, her face turned scarlet.

"Don't you mind, Bella. It takes humans _years_ to learn to walk properly," Alice said encouragingly, patting her arm in a sympathetic sort of way. Bella wished she had the ability to snap back at the young woman, but knew better than to try: her throat had begun to hurt whenever she attempted to speak, as if reminding her of the deal she had made.

That, and she'd been distracted by her other senses.

Never before had she beheld so many colors, so much movement, so much _brightness._ They had stepped from the carriage into a world unlike anything Bella had ever seen— her wonder resonated inside her bosom like an explosion of nerves after sensory deprivation. Above her lay the wide, periwinkle sky, the horizon rimmed with trees and the distant ocean-line… Below her was an intricate web of burgundy stone and mortar, like a puzzle made of rock. The puzzle piece on which she, Alice, Jasper, and a plethora of others stood was part of an enormous circle, a gigantic ring. After it looped around a fountain, the path snaked forward— forming a set of stairs that seemed to stretch into the atmosphere. There, in the vibrant blue heavens, it met a large white cloud—no, not a cloud, an elaborate marble palace that shone pure-white against the sky and sea.

_Such beautiful colors…_

That was just the beginning; around her there blossomed all the shades of the rainbow and more: color that she had never seen, or dreamed of, or even dared to imagine. They were painted on carriages of each shape and model, threaded into dresses of every size and design. The colors moved and danced in Bella's vision as their wearers glided to and fro, in and out of sight. But even when she could not see them, she could _hear_ them. There was so much sound in this foreign world! Horses clip-clopped and whinnied; the breeze rustled leaves and fabric; women and men sang and chatted in individual, unique voices that created both dissonance and harmony as they made their merry ways; the elaborate fountain—shaped in the form of an unclothed woman with an overflowing urn— burbled and splashed at the center of the cul-de-sac, its streaming waters creating prisms in the afternoon sunlight.

"You think _this_ is nice?" Jasper snorted, rolling his eyes at Bella's awe. "Just wait until you see the inside of the palace."

The thought of something—anything—being grander than this picturesque scene filled Bella with both feelings of excitement and irritation; while she wanted desperately to see more, she also felt as if the young man had spoken blasphemy.

But trying to put such thoughts into words was unnecessary and ultimately useless, and so Bella merely shrugged, content in watching the world go by as Jasper carried her forward: across the stone path, around the streaming fountain, up the countless stairs…

His arms rocked; her mind wandered…

**X**

"_Hey there!"_

_Bella started, jaw dropping as her head snapped towards the voice. He—he had spoken to her. For all her years of watching him, of sighing after him, of wishing he would notice… he had spoken to her._

_Upon her rock just off the shore, Bella's face flamed; she wrapped the slimy tarp she'd fished from a sunken ship more closely to her body, hiding all but her face behind the fabric and the boulder on which she sat._

"_Hey," Jacob called again, beaming at her with a wave of his hand. He'd grown so much in the years since their last encounter; he was 19 now, and so very much a man. "I see you over there—you always sit there when you decide to visit. Will you let me see your face this time, or will you choose to remain a pretty mystery?" _

_Her blush darkened…and despite herself, she felt her fingers loosen just the slightest bit on the corners of her make-shift cloak. Before she'd realized what had happened, the hood drooped around her face; a halo of chestnut locks peeped out from beneath the coarse cloth. _

"_Oh…" As Jacob blinked twice in rapid succession, his lanky body stumbled backward half a pace. His booted feet disturbed the rocky shore, leaving footprints and little mountains of sand. "Pardon me, miss, I feel I have unintentionally insulted you. You are a _beautiful _mystery."_

_Flustered, Bella ducked away… but continued to watch him from beneath her long lashes._

"_Won't you speak to me today?" the prince shouted, playful and sweet. "Or will you always just watch me from that rock?"_

_Bella giggled—a sound lost in the breaking of waves upon the coast—then tossed her head in vague answer, her heart pounding loudly in her ears._

"_Fine then," Jacob pouted, though the effect was lost when he grinned. "I shall simply have to hope that, next time, you choose to grace me with conversation. Until then, my mystifying maiden."_

He bowed politely, then spun around and ran into the distance, his yipping dog at his heels.

_Alone on her boulder, Bella thought she might burst with joy._

Next time,_ she privately swore to herself, delighting in the aftermath of their first true exchange—in this miraculous turn of events. Fighting off a fit of glee, she tossed the now-obsolete tarp to the heavens, arching gracefully into her ocean home. _Next time I will swim closer. Next time I will speak to him.

Next time he will love me.

**X**

Her daydream vanished like a bubble burst.

And yet, for a moment, Bella thought she must be in a bubble still. The world around her had developed an opalescent sheen—everything glittering and shimmering as if made of diamond or pearl. Above her, hung in rows that seemed to vanish in the distance, were crystalline chandeliers fashioned from gemstones and glass; the forty-foot walls to her left and right were alive with stain-glass mosaics, their picture-stories interrupted only by marble doorways that lead to halls and chambers dripping with luxury. Countless Grecian pillars lined those distant foyers, as well as the foyer in which Jasper, Bella, and Alice currently stood, surrounded on all sides by doormen and guards.

"Yes. It's all quite breathtaking, isn't it?" Alice commented, albeit indifferently, but was cut from further comment by the sound of footsteps. Someone—or many someones—was parading down the two intricate staircases that stood before them. For a moment, Bella simply marveled in the way the mirrored structures twisted down from the upper story, their steps swathed in red velvet that spilled across the floor and out the open doors. They were simply gorgeous…

But then, from of the shadows, a tall, dark man emerged— emerged as if out of a dream: dressed in gold and crisp white linen, dark hair bound in a neat ponytail at his nape, his face lean and body toned and oh, all thoughts of architecture were blown from Bella's mind as he began descending the stairs.

_He looks like Jacob,_ Bella thought dreamily, her face flushing fuchsia as she gaped at the man from Jasper's arms. _At least, he looks like Jacob will in a few years… last I saw him, he was only 15…_

"Greetings," a man spoke—a man who was not the Jacob-look-alike, so Bella paid him no mind; she only had eyes for the gentleman with the thin circlet. "You are here for the festival, I presume…?"

"We are here escorting our lady, Princess Isabella," Alice replied, her voice distant in Bella's ears. Still, she couldn't help but watch the pixie of a girl dance forward and fall into the most elegant of curtsies, addressing the paunchy servant who'd spoken. "As you can see, our mistress has been a little under the weather, lately—she has lost her voice and most of the strength in her legs. However, she is a wonderful, kind woman who dearly loves this kingdom… and your Prince Jacob."

_His name is Jacob, too? _Bella mused, delighted—ignorant of the near-feral grin that Alice shot Jasper. _How ironic!_

"Hmmm." The man who was not the prince droned, clearly bored. "How smashing. Now, Princess Isabella… I believe we will put you in the third room in the East wing, the one with the garden view. It's a smidgen small, but it's all we have at this point… and you don't seem to have any other servants with you, so it will do."

The middle-aged butler looked to Bella for her approval; Bella continued smiling blissfully at Jacob. The prince returned the gesture graciously, but he did look slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm sure it will not be a problem, sir," Jasper grunted, giving Bella a small shake to wake her from her fantasies. She blinked once, realized she was gawking, then curled away with a face as red as the setting sun. "Now, I believe our mistress would like something to eat? She has suffered an incredibly long journey."

"Of course," the manservant drawled, no longer even looking at the small group. Rather, his nose was buried in a folder full of papers, as if making notes to himself. "The other girls had the chance to dine with Master Jacob earlier this evening; I suppose it's only fair to give Princess Isabella the same opportunity. Master Jacob?"

For a full minute, Jacob did not move. Rather, he continued to stare at Bella, eyes narrowed slightly in mild uncertainly. He seemed to be mulling over something entirely unpleasant… or, at least, he was—until his butler cleared his throat rather with a meaningful cough.

"Huh? Oh. Oh, yes." Looking faintly sheepish, Jacob automatically stepped forward and offered an arm.

After a pause, things seemed to click in his mind. He shifted his weight and offered both.

Jasper snorted. "Here you are, then," he said, a half-smirk playing on his lips as he dumped Bella into the prince's embrace. "She doesn't say much, but feel free to ask her yes or no questions."

"…is she conscious?" Jacob queried after a moment, faintly disturbed by the glassy-eyed stare that had crept onto the quiet girl's face, draining it of all life.

"Oh, she does that from time to time," Alice assured lightly, waving a flippant hand. Not that Jacob noticed; his eyes were trained on Bella, his expression seemingly torn between concern and antipathy. "It helps her… clear her mind. Just tap her shoulder or call her name—she snaps out of it easily enough."

"I see."

"Well, then," Alice trilled, her smile suddenly devious as she curled an arm through Jasper's, pulling him close to her side, "we'll be in our mistress' chamber. Please let us know when you need us to escort her back. Oh—"

She lingered for a moment before turning down the hall, offering an exuberate wink. "And have fun, your highness."

**X**

_She wasn't really sure why she continued to watch him— he wasn't exceptionally exciting or unusual. Nor was he uncommonly smart or interesting. And yet, there was a light in the eyes of that 6 year old boy… a _life_ that Bella had not seen for many years. _

I wish I could play with him, too,_ she thought longingly, watching him scamper across the beach with his puppy. He barked out laughter when the small dog brought him a driftwood stick, the giggles morphing into playful growls when the puppy refused to surrender it. Then he smiled, and its brightness put the sun to shame. _And maybe see where he lives. Perhaps there are others there who would play with us, as well. We could all have fun together.

_Sighing, Bella slowly pulled her peaking head back into the cold green sea. It was senseless to think such things…_

_Without a dog or friend to play with, she instead sang a song to pass the time: _

The sea awoke at midnight from its sleep

And round the pebbly beaches far and wide

I heard the first wave of the rising tide…

**X**

"You know, they say if you're caught in a stare, it means your brain needs a rest."

_Jacob?_ At the sound of the low, sonorous voice, Bella's lashes fluttered rapidly, clearing the memory from her eyes. But she was instantly disappointed when she glanced across the cherry wood table and realized no, it wasn't Jacob: it was young man of perhaps 25, handsome and bemused and all together familiar, though she was sure she'd never seen him before. _How strange…_

"So? Is that it, then?" The young man asked—and Bella remembered vaguely that though he wasn't _her_ Jacob, his name was Jacob, too. "Is your mind tired?"

_Tired? Why should my mind be tired? _Bella mused noiselessly, a touch of annoyance darkening her thoughts. _My world has only been flipped inside out and upside down in the course of a day…_

But she could not say that to him— both literally and figuratively. Instead, she nodded once, cheeks pink and gaze demurely downcast.

Jacob offered a faint smile. "If it helps," he added gently, "I'm feeling a tad brain-dead myself. I've been talking to people all day… generally very noisy, catty people." He paused, tilting his head in deliberation. "You know, I think this is the first time I've heard _quiet _all day. It's actually rather nice. Er—not that your lost voice is a good thing," he amended swiftly, looking embarrassed.

Bella shrugged. There was little else she could do.

And so the conversation ended as quickly as it'd started. Self-conscious, Bella chose to pick at the clam chowder in her china bowl, casting sidelong glances out the long, latticed windows. Beyond the glass, the radiant sunset reflected off of the endless ocean; the vivid beams of wine and gold cast the room in a stunning array of highlights and shadows, staining the ivory place mats crimson and orange and turning the crystal goblets into glittering sculptures of ice.

"…you know," Jacob began again after a minute, pulling Bella back from another bout of daydreams, "you look slightly… familiar. Like a woman I knew long ago."

Unwillingly intrigued, Bella slanted her stare towards the insecure prince.

"When I was but a toddler, my father took me out to sea," Jacob whispered, his eyes, too, turning towards the majestic ocean that twinkled in the distance, serene and tranquil in the twilight. "It was my first time on the water… and I loved it. I remember the thrill I felt to this day…"

His gaze softened, dreamy with memories… but almost immediately hardened, his hands clenching around his golden soup spoon. "But before we could make it back to port that night, the ocean's cheerful mood turned sour. A storm appeared as if from nowhere, rocking our ship like a toy in a tub… we capsized."

Captivated now, Bella watched the young man's dark skin turn a slight shade of green; he pulled a weary hand down his face, sucking in a deep breath.

"I was only three at the time, I couldn't swim. I remember floundering in the water desperately, trying to stay afloat—but it was no use. I slipped under, and the world turned black… but only for a moment."

Abruptly, as if only just remembering that this was the past, Jacob straightened in his chair, cleared the hazy of reminiscence from his voice, and refocused his eyes upon Bella. She stared steadily back, unflinching. "I was rescued. A servant grabbed me and swam me to my father's life raft, seeking safety for us both. But there was only room for one on the boat, and the strain had been too much for her. I watched, helpless, as the young woman who'd saved me sank beneath the waves, her half-lidded eyes blank and her hair swirling around her still body…"

He shuddered, fingers pressed to his mouth. "Since that day I admit I am afraid of the sea," he confessed silently, wearing an expression that was both dejected and full of shame. "I like to look at it, and I like to walk along the shore… but the water and its creatures terrify me. You never know what horrors lay in the heart of the deep."

With a final, valiant effort, his voice wavered… then fell silent. And Bella knew— knew that even if she _could_ speak—she would be unable to do so, now. He simply looked too humiliated and scared, like a small child suffering an enormous punishment. What could she say when faced with that?

Nothing. There was nothing anyone could say. But perhaps…

Tentatively, as if half-afraid that he might bite, the girl lowered her spoon and reached across the table— resting her tiny hand upon the trembling fist of the prince.

And Jacob, though startled, looked at her… and grinned.

"…thank you for listening," he whispered, fingers visibly loosening as he lifted his free hand to pat her arm. "I know it isn't very flattering, being compared to a dead servant girl. In fact, it was incredibly rude of me to bring it up in the first place. Allow me to make it up to you—may I escort you to your chambers?"

Though she was unable to audibly answer, Bella's returning smile was so dazzling that it needed no words to supplement it.

**X**

_She was tired, so tired, and the sea was so very, very warm._

_Half-conscious, delirious, and limbs like lead, she sunk deeper and deeper into the darkness, thoughts of Jacob swirling through her mind like a poison._

_Her eyes flickered to a close…_

"The sea awoke at midnight from its sleep,

And round the pebbly beaches far and wide…"

**X**

"…_I heard the first wave of the rising tide_..."

Rush onward with uninterrupted sweep

Her eyes opened to now-familiar darkness. And for a moment, Bella thought that she was dreaming still—lost amidst the rushing of the waves, rocked in the arms of the ocean she knew. But slowly and surely, her vision sharpened, and she became aware of the bright silver moonbeams leaking from her window…

And of the drifting melody from far below.

_I know that voice, _Bella realized—not for the first time that day—, as she sat up straight in her feather bed. With difficulty, she pulled herself to the edge of the mattress and swung her feet over, allowing them to drop to the floor like twin weights.

"_A voice out of the silence of the deep,_

_A sound mysteriously multiplied_

_As of a cataract from the mountain's side_

_Or roar of winds upon the wooded steep_."

Propelling herself with her arms and balancing with difficultly, Bella forced herself onto her near-useless legs; her knees wobbled, but she held steady. Clutching anything within her grasp to remain upright, Bella made her sluggish way to the beckoning window and its ethereal puddles of starlight.

_I know that voice,_ she thought again, more certainly as the cobwebs of fantasy fled her mind, leaving her perfectly coherent and cognizant. Her hand hit the cold glass of her window; she peered down into the moonlit garden.

Her eyes widened.

"_So comes to us at times, from the unknown_

_And inaccessible solitudes of being—!_

_The rushing of the sea-tides of the soul…"_

As quickly as her feet could carry her, Bella started for the door—almost dragging her legs behind her as she all but swung herself from railing to wall, column to doorway, sliding down whatever steps she came across. And still, the song seemed to echo through the halls, leading her through the night…

"_And inspirations, that we deem our own,_

_Are some divine foreshadowing and foreseeing…_"

Tree to bush; fence to fountain. Bella collapsed in exhaustion, panting heavily, as she reached the moonlit garden—an otherworldly paradise under the sparkling heavenly bodies. Its steep hills, flattened into step-like layers, were each decorated with trellises of white roses, and surrounded by pale lilacs in bloom. Strategically placed fountains gurgled shimmering spouts of water into the star-strewn sky, their droplets falling on islands of water lilies and patches of moonflowers, sweet and alive in the night.

But of all the beauties in the garden, he was the most beautiful of all: stock still, hair glistening, his long lithe legs encased in black leather pants and his toned chest barely hidden by an open, billowy shirt of white linen. Around his throat hung a glossed conch shell on a brown cord; on his face he wore a dangerous smile.

_The sea witch..._

"…_of things beyond our reason or control._"

As the final notes faded into the night, swallowed by the sound of the sea, Edward's green eyes glittered, their depths as dark as the ocean itself. "Hello, Bella," he then purred, kneeling before her with a sensual grace, taking her hand in his own. He breathed a kiss upon its back, still grinning. "I trust your day went well?"

A pause, as if he waited for a response. When she offered none, he arched a genial eyebrow, pulling her to her feet and leading her carefully to the nearest fountain.

"No answer?" he said after a moment, sounding faintly offended as he carefully eased the girl onto the smooth lip of stone, her hand still placed delicately upon his own. "Really, Bella, that's awfully rude. You should always speak when spoken to."

Bella offered him a flat stare. Still, out of habit, she formed an answer with her lips, perfectly aware that it was a wasted endeavor.

"Oh please. And how do you expect me to answer when you've stolen my—"

She froze. Edward, busy lowering himself beside her, was unable to muffle a soft chortle.

"Wait… what? My voice—I have a… a _human _voice and I—!"

"Not for long, you don't," the sea witch corrected cordially, leaning back on his hands as he crossed his lean legs. "But when I'm around, yes. I rather like conversation, and through trial and error have found muteness to be a rather permanent stopper of it. Besides," he added lazily, flicking his necklace—which appeared to be softly aglow— with a casual finger, "what's the point in owning your voice if I don't ever get to hear it?"

"Oh…" Bella deflated, slouching a bit in disappointment as she laced her fingers together on her lap. "Well… still… I suppose getting to use it now is… is better than nothing at all…"

Edward's smile widened as he lifted a hand to trail indolently up and down her spine; he watched her with pointed intensity as she gazed out over the ebony sea, a hidden hunger in his eyes. "That's the spirit. That's the optimism I like to hear, love. Now— I believe I asked you a question. Have you been having fun here on land?"

"I—! Um…" Bella—who had opened her mouth eagerly, ready to share any news at all— paused just as suddenly… then blinked, as if she'd lost her train of thought. Her temple scrunched. "I… I don't know," she admitted after a minute, her voice strained and distracted.

"Don't know?" Edward repeated faintly, seemingly surprised. "How do you not know?"

"It's… strange," Bella scowled, lips pursed as she tugged at her braided hair. A gentle wind, smelling of lilacs and sea-salt, rustled her cotton nightdress and swirled around her bare feet. "The longer I'm here, the harder it is for me to remember why I'm here in the first place. I remember going to see you… I wanted to be human for someone. And that's all I know. Now I'm involved in a contest to win the prince's hand in marriage… and I feel as if I want to win. Yet, when your song woke me from my sleep—even before I knew it was you!—I was filled with a strange desire to… to _see _you, though I wasn't sure why."

"Hmm," Edward hummed, and tucked a stray brown curl behind Bella's ear in a musing sort of way. "That is bizarre, dear heart. Perhaps it is your subconscious speaking?"

"My subconscious?" Blinking blankly, Bella cast the sea witch an incredulous stare. "What on earth do you mean by _that_?"

"Think for a bit, sweet one," he retorted, his words silken as he slid closer, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and using his free hand to tilt her chin towards him. She did not resist the embrace. "You're trying to marry a man who _hated_ you—who called you a monster, who tried to kill you in cold blood. You claim to love him, and have willingly changed yourself for him… but if he truly loved you in return, wouldn't he have accepted you the way you were?"

"…what are you talking about?"

Mildly disgusted, Bella pulled away enough to pierce the sea witch with a skeptically stare, her pretty face pinched with annoyance. "I said I'm in the running for his hand, not that I _want _it," she snorted, shaking her head in disbelief. "Really, I only just met this man today. Why would I _want_ to marry him?"

She turned fully to continue—

But cut herself off when she caught sight of the blithe beam upon his lips, and the devious glimmer in his captivating emerald eyes.

"Of course," Edward murmured, his voice barely a whisper on the winds as he smoothed cool fingers down her cheek. "How silly of me to even suggest such a thing. I did not mean to insult your virtue."

"Hm. Darn right…" Bella murmured, though she was beginning to sound unfocused—her vision growing cloudy the longer she stared up into his dizzyingly beautiful features. It was a fairly disturbing sensation, to feel yourself drift off even as you tried to rouse your consciousness back to life… but try as she may, she couldn't keep the waves of pure exhaustion at bay.

Lulling to the side as if in mid-swoon, Bella collapsed against Edward—strangely comforted by the feeling of his fingers in her hair, of his shoulder beneath her cheek, of his song in her ears…

"_The sea awoke at midnight from its sleep_

_And round the pebbly beaches far and wide_

_I heard the first wave of the rising tide_

_Rush onward with uninterrupted sweep…"_

**X**

"_Master_…"

Twin voices—one lilting soprano, one husky tenor—breathed the title with such devotion that one didn't need to see them in order to know that they were on the ground, groveling before their lord.

Oblivious, their master continued lazily caressing the angel who slept beside him, watching with unbridled delight as she breathed in, breathed out; breathed in, breathed out… and the gemstone adorning her throat began to burn.

Faintly at first, then brightening in intensity, the aquamarine's pale blue glow seemed to pulse and swirl: as if the jewel were sucking in some secret, unknown fuel source.

Bella's lashes fluttered, she exhaled one last time…

And the stone, with a final burst of fire, popped once, twice— then shorted-out. Yet, deep in its clouded center, a smoldering ember of the original blaze seemed to survive… trapped in the periwinkle prison forever.

"Midnight," Edward hissed, eyes dancing with the remnants of the gem's radiance, "and the end of day one." With airy confidence, his fingers glided down Bella's round cheek, smoothed across the planes of her long neck, dipped between the valley of her breasts…

And snapped the aquamarine from its delicate cord.

"That means the memories of your past are mine, Bella dear," the sea witch purred, laughter in his voice as he lifted the girl into his arms, cradling her slumbering body like a doll. "To have, to hold, to erase. And I'm afraid you cannot love a person who you cannot remember."

A dark chuckle oozed from his throat; as if in afterthought, he tossed his head to the left.

"Alice. Jasper."

"_Master_," the voices murmured a second time, appearing from the garden's gloom with their hands upon their hearts. "How can we serve you?"

Edward didn't even bother glancing towards them; it was enough to know that they kneeled behind him. "Jasper," he barked, giving his princess one last squeeze, "take my precious little lamb back to her room— make sure her sleep remains this deep and keep her calm tomorrow. Things are about to get a bit more disorientating, I'm afraid. Alice, be a dear and create a fashionable use for this."

A small object cut through the air with a hissed whizzing sound; Alice snatched it deftly between two fingers. In her palm lay a polished token of yellow topaz, cut into a pentagon similar to the aquamarine.

Both servants bowed their heads, one with a gem in their hands and the other with Bella. "As you wish, master."

They faded back into the darkness.

Edward stood alone.

"Two more days…" he said to himself, the words nearly inaudible over the rushing of the tide. Then he smiled, waved a hand over his necklace, and watched—his pleasure virtually tangible— as an iridescent curl of smoke rose from the shell's opening, curling and twisting around his body. He flourished his fingers more insistently; the smoke grew thicker, stronger, coiling and swirling through the air… and as it did so, a faint sound began to grow louder: a woman's bell-sweet voice, singing a haunting lullaby.

"_A voice out of the silence of the deep_

_A sound mysteriously multiplied_

_As of a cataract from the mountain's side,_

_Or roar of winds upon a wooded steep…_"

The sea witch sighed serenely, eyes half-lidded with longing… and as he made his leisured way into the cloudless spring night, his voice could be heard harmonizing with the girl's: the words ever-echoing even after he'd been engulfed by shadows.

"_The rushing of the sea-tides of the soul;_

_And inspirations that we deem our own,_

_Are some divine foreshadowing and foreseeing_

_Of things beyond our reason or control."_

**XXX**

If anyone's interested, I have a crap-tastic version of Edward and Bella's song that I've recorded; I can upload it and post a download link on my bio-page. So, uh, yeah… you know, let me know if you guys would like to hear it. (And don't worry, I'm not insulted if you don't.)

PS. After so many years of writing, I can't believe I've been reduced to saying this again, but c'mon guys—please, I'm begging: review. I know that ff-dot-net has made it incredibly easy to just favorite a story or author or whatnot without ever once telling the author about it via review, and I'm sure that a lot of you feel that doing that is acknowledgement enough. But (if you'll permit me to be selfish) it's not, really. There's no comparison to the excitement an author gets when reading a review, especially for a story they're proud of— even if it's just a brief 'yo, this chapter didn't blow' sort of note. Getting automated alerts telling me that someone liked my story enough to favorite it but not enough to tell me why sorta gives me mixed feelings. I'm thankful you guys are favoriting me and my stuff—truly, I am!—but please, for my sake and for the sake of all of the other hardworking authors on ff-dot-net, don't forget to drop us a line once in a while. We'd really appreciate it. And to those of who have reviewed—particularly those readers who have stuck with me so long that I recognize their names— you guys _rock my world_. I mean that.

Thank you and goodnight. (…or day. Whenever you happen to read this.)


	3. Day Two: Present

_Disclaimer:_ I really don't own much in this world… and I certainly don't own Twilight, The Little Mermaid, or The Sound of the Sea. Those belong to Stephenie Meyer, Disney/Hans Christian Anderson, and Longfellow, respectively.

_Author's Note:_ A few of you mentioned being confused by what happened in chapter one. If you are, don't worry— that's the intent. It'll all be made clear in chapter three. (Which will hopefully be posted soon. Bare in mind, though, that I leave for my first week of college on August 29th, so… well, don't hold your breath, I suppose.)

On other, somewhat-related notes, I have to admit that I'm worried that this chapter may seem a hint rushed. But really, there were only two important scenes in this chapter, whereas in chapter one… well, _all_ of the scenes in chapter one were important. Oh well. The word count is almost the same.

_The Song: _I've posted my recording of "The Sound of the Sea" on my bio page. I warn you—it was a copy that wasn't-supposed-to-be-the-final-copy-but-there-were-things-in-it-I-liked-so-much-that-I-was-afraid-of-screwing-things-up-if-I-tried-again. So yeah. Bear that in mind when you listen to it. Eh heh.

_Warnings: _Still no tentacle rape, sorry. (…why is this under 'warnings?') But there are a few moments in which Edward isn't very gentlemanly. (Oh, you _know_ you like it.)

**XXX**

**ELEGIAC**

**Day Two: Present**

**XXX**

_Someone is touching me._

Half-asleep, vision black, and breath caught in her throat, Bella arched an inch from the confines of the feather mattress, offering herself to the hands that ghosted over her breast, stomach, thighs… The sensation was weirdly familiar, as was the touch that caused it. Like a dream from another life, or a memory she'd forgotten. Where did she…? _Oh_— but such thoughts were irrelevant, now— so long as the hands continued to caress her.

With a thrash of her head, a soft moan fell from her lips; it was answered by a soundless groan. And in her ear—the wet heat of the words making her quake with need—she heard someone whisper:

_Mine._

Her eyes snapped open.

She was alone.

Blinking rapidly as her chest rose and fell, Bella lifted her torso from her bed with an elbow, chancing a glance around the sunny bedroom. It was just as it'd been the night before: tastefully decorated, clean and cozy, with a trunk at the base of her mahogany-framed canopy and a wide window that gazed over the coast.

_What… was that?_ Bella gulped, raking a hand through her disheveled curls. Her forehead felt sticky with sweat, and the space between her thighs burned. _There wasn't anybody here, but…_

"Good morning, Bella, my dear!"

With a bang, the wooden door flew open and Alice danced inside, dressed today in a frilly gown of mint-green. She'd tied a ruffled cream apron around her tiny waist, and in her arms she held an elaborate silver tray that was heavy with fruit and bread. Behind her, Jasper—in a matching tunic, sans the frills and ruffles— carried a slender box and a glass of water. "Hungry for breakfast, child?" Alice offered sweetly, oblivious to Bella's frazzled nerves.

But then, conversely, Bella wasn't feeling so very frazzled anymore. _How odd,_ she mused as she munched on a muffin, watching Alice and Jasper bustle around the room: pulling a petticoat from the trunk, a pair of slippers from under the bed, a corset from the amour… _Perhaps it is their presence. I always do feel calmer when Alice and Jasper are around._

As though confirming this idea as truth, Bella nodded to herself, swallowing the last bite of her meal.

"Now then," Alice chirped as Jasper took Bella's dish, putting it aside. "You're conscious this time, so it might be a little more difficult, but we've got to get you dressed. Prince Jacob and his would-be brides will be off soon, and we must make you presentable so that you may join them."

_Where are we going? _Bella mouthed as Jasper helped her to her feet, keeping her body steady and her arms straight as Alice deftly unbuttoned the front of her nightdress; in less than a minute, the dark haired woman was already strapping her charge into a set of cotton undergarments and a corset. She moved so fast… inhumanly fast. Privately, Bella worried that if she blinked, she'd miss this entire mortal experience.

"I hear you'll all be taking a trip to the city nearest to the sea," Jasper answered, physically turning Bella around as Alice started to work on the corset's laces. Bella was glad she needed no air to speak; it would have been impossible to carry on a conversation with the way she was being squished into the form-fitting contraption.

_A city? As in people and buildings and more carriages?_ Bella asked, lifting her arms as Alice pulled a wad of cloth from Jasper's box and—in a single fluid motion— yanked it over the girl's head, smoothing down the lace and silk now draping the princess's slender body. She was very good at what she did; despite the speed at which she worked, Alice was both careful and gentle, hurting neither Bella nor the delicate outfit.

"Yes, yes," Alice sang in reply, tugging Bella's hem straight. "A city just like that. You'll sight-see, listen to good music, dance… it'll be fun. Alright, time for final touches."

Cued by this, Jasper spun Bella so quickly that she felt somewhat nauseous; while distracted, a velvet band snap around her neck and there was another dull pull at her hips. By the time her head had cleared, Alice was done. Done and apparently proud of her work, as she flashed Bella a wide grin while pointing at the full-length, gilded mirror hanging on the wall beside the door. "There we are," she cooed, leading Bella forward with one arm around her waist and the other clasping her right hand. "You look exquisite," she said decisively.

And—to Bella's surprise—she found that she had to agree. With its tight, long-sleeved top and bell-shaped skirt, the sunlight-yellow gown Alice had clad her in brought out the rich darkness of Bella's hair and eyes, as well as the pink in her cheeks and lips. The golden bow that synched her middle and the matching ribbon laced through her tumbling locks made her look like a beautiful doll, and the brilliant topaz choker around her throat completed the ensemble marvelously. Bella barely recognized the winsome young woman in the mirror.

_Wow…_she gaped, stunned as she assessed her reflection. _This is…_

"I liked yesterday's dress better," Jasper muttered under his breath, though he silenced himself when Alice playfully kicked his shin.

Bella smiled. _…thank you both._

"Don't bother _thanking_ us," Alice snorted, dismissive as she shooed Bella—helped by Jasper—towards the door. "Thanks will get us nowhere. Instead, go out and dazzle people… make all the other girls green with jealousy!"

_That doesn't seem very… nice_, Bella hesitated, looking from one pair of black eyes to the other.

Jasper shrugged. "Alls fair in love and war," he quoted blandly.

"Speaking of," Alice tacked on, slipping blithely between Bella and the exit. "Jasper and I won't be able to be your feet today."

In the very back of her mind, Bella noted that as transitions went, Alice's made little sense. However, this observation paled in comparison to the instant panic the jovial declaration had evoked. _What?!_ Bella gawked, tightening her hands around Jasper's protective hold—as if refusing to let him go. _But how will I—?_

"Relax," the young man interrupted with a sigh; despite herself, Bella did as she was told. _How did he _do_ that? _"We're not abandoning you, or anything. We haven't left you on your own to flop around like a beached whale. It just so happens that someone else has decided they'd like to accompany you to town."

The brunette shot her companions dubious glances. _But… but who…?_

Alice beamed, impish amusement bright in her eyes. With a giggle and an adroit flick of her wrist, she pulled the door open; leaning casually against the doorframe, arms crossed loosely over his open white shirt, was none other than—

"_Sea witch_," Bella breathed, face flushing as she drank in the sight of the tall, sensuous young man: his copper hair tousled and his tight pants as black and glossy as his tentacles had been. He was even more striking in the light than he had been in the darkness; it made her entire body go numb. And yet, she felt perplexingly reassured by his presence… She fought that feeling, frightened by it. _I shouldn't feel comfortable around this man! He's dangerous! _"What are you…?"

"My lady," the sea witch whispered, his voice as smooth as velvet as he swept into a bow, placing an airy kiss upon the back of her hand. "Please, call me Edward. I do so look forward to our day together."

"But… wait…" Confused, Bella turned back to Alice and Jasper, her expression heavy with uncertainty. "How am I supposed to win Prince Jacob's affections if I spend the entire trip in the company of another man?"

"You would have anyway," Jasper pointed out dryly, jabbing a thumb at himself. "What difference does it make?"

"Well, I—" Visibly fluttered, Bella's eyes darted back and forth: first landing on her hand in Edward's, then upon Jasper's impassive visage, then back again. "That is… you're _different_!"

"Regardless," Alice interrupted, stepping between Bella and the noticeably insulted Jasper, "Edward will be your escort today. I'm sure it won't be a problem."

"Of course not," Edward murmured, and instantly Bella's eyes were drawn to him and him alone: captivated by every curve and angle of his ethereal face. "Besides, what would you do with the affections of a man you hardly know? Surely you're not interested in a stranger, are you?"

_What an excellent point,_ Bella mused, vague perplexity etched onto the contours of her pretty face. _I only just met this man yesterday. What use do I have for him today?_ "I… uh… no, not really," she then heard herself confess, though the words made something in her chest constrict uncomfortably. "No. No, you're right, Sea Wi— um, Edward. Thank you for coming to help me."

"It's not a problem, my pet," the sea witch purred, using the girl's thin hand as leverage to pull her closer. Their hips met and molded; with a smile, he brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, eyes brightening as he noted the faint glisten of the stone upon her throat. "Not a problem at all."

**X**

"There she is… Her _Highness _Isabella. The freak mute."

The whisper was soft, subtle, and for anyone not in the immediate vicinity, perfectly inaudible. Unfortunately, there were a number of people in the immediate vicinity, including—but not limited to—Bella herself. Her teeth ground in the back of her mouth; beside her, Edward was unable to silence an amused chortle at his companion's palpable irritation.

"She must think she's too good for us." A different girl spoke this time, but she seemed to be friends with the first gossiper. Both were beautiful young woman around Bella's age, both were bedecked in pastel finery, and both wore the same expression: as if something nearby was rotting. They cast Bella simultaneous glares from over their shoulders; the second adjusted her curly hair and hissed: "And did you see that manservant she brought with her? Does she think she's too good for Prince Jacob, _too?_"

"I don't understand why she's even here if she going to act like this," the first said with a 'humph,' flipping her blonde locks with a toss of her head.

Understandably irritated by the slander being spewed to her left and right—and these weren't even the comments being said behind her back!— Bella opened her mouth to correct her fellow princesses on their assumptions…

But found, much to her irritation, that her voice refused to work.

_Edward. _Livid, the girl's narrowed gaze snapped to the man beside her; though he carried himself with an air that was both calm and collected, his eyes were alive with laughter.

"I apologize, my dear," the sea witch murmured, his lips scarcely moving as he spoke between his teeth. "But I can't have you blowing your own cover. You're supposed to be mute and sickly, remember? Besides," he added as if in afterthought, a smug smile curling up the corners of his mouth, "I see no reason for anyone besides myself to hear your lovely voice."

Bella wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. Certainly not _flattered…_ but mysteriously, that was the overwhelming sensation; it made her heart feel tight and fluttery.

And so, to distract herself, she chose to focus on the scenery that she—and the mass of monarchs around her— were wandering past. Despite his lengthy stride, Edward was being quite amiable about allowing her to stroll at her own pace; they meandered leisurely down the red cobbled road, towards the end of the princess parade, savoring the sights.

There was, after all, so much to see. The trees and flowers and general greenery she'd noticed from the carriage window had only been a taste of what Jacob's kingdom had to offer; she hadn't even bothered to absorb the manmade wonders. As they neared the town square—visible beyond a canopy of foliage that ringed the city like a protective wall— hundreds of buildings popped into view, towering over the streets and people at heights as impressive as three and four stories. Maroon church steeples gleamed against the early afternoon sky; houses and signs with all sorts of pictures and colors painted upon them shone brightly in the light. Carts, horses, carriages, and chitchat echoed up from the spider-webbed avenues, resonating and repeating until the strange symphony became pleasant white noise.

_It's glorious… _Bella mouthed breathlessly, her fingers squeezing Edward's in both excitement and fear as the ground beneath them tilted dangerously forward, down the final stretch of the steep hill.

"Mmm," Edward hummed noncommittally, tensing his arm around the young girl's waist. "I suppose. If you enjoy pollution and filth and too-close quarters."

Startled, Bella twisted her face towards her companions, attention diverted as they made their way down the knoll. Consequently, she still almost tripped. _That's awfully bitter,_ she soundlessly pointed out once he'd helped her regain her composure. _Why don't you like humans? _

"I never said I don't like humans," Edward retorted easily, though he quite pointedly kept his gaze focused straight ahead. "On an individual basis their friendships can be surprisingly rewarding and lucrative. I've just found that, as a whole, they leave an unpleasant taste in my mouth. They're a species who turns a blind eye on violence, only ever looks out for him or herself, and would gladly trade one life for another if they deemed that the first life was somehow 'more worthy' than the second. No, I don't dislike humans. I simply feel they're primeval."

As if to encourage this characterization, the two princesses from earlier suddenly reappeared before Bella and Edward—keeping far enough away to remain unassociated with the pair, but close enough for them to hear their scandalous conversation.

"Look at the way he holds her," the first hissed conspiratorially, a spiteful smirk upon her otherwise-attractive face. "That's the hold of a man who knows _what's where_. I doubt the Prince would marry a scarlet lady…"

"She obviously doesn't belong here," the second agreed with a tittering laugh. "We have nothing to worry about, my friend."

Casting Bella brief, superior glares, they giggled, clasped hands, and flounced away—closer to the other princesses and the coveted Prince Jacob. She and the sea witch were the farthest behind now, and Bella couldn't help but think it was because they were so perceptibly 'different.'

"Humans are vindictive creatures," Edward whispered in her ear, his words a tender breath that seemed to warm her soul. His left hand tightened imperceptibly around her own. "And I would _hate_ to see you get harmed by their cruelty."

…_perhaps he's right,_ Bella thought, dejected, gaze fluttering over the nearing city a bit guiltily now. _And since the humans obviously don't care about me, why should I care about them?_

Around her neck, her topaz charm shone a tad brighter… but it was impossible to tell in the brilliant sunlight.

**X**

To be perfectly frank, Bella wasn't sure what the tour of the town was supposed to accomplish. Perhaps the prince wanted a bride as proud of his city as he was; perhaps he wanted to show off the achievements of his people. Perhaps he wanted to weed the whiners from the group.

Any of the three sounded like perfectly legitimate reasons to Bella, and she got the feeling that even if the original intent had been one of the former two options, as the sun made its lazy way across the sky the latter of the choices was clearly looking good to poor Jacob.

"Good grief, can they do anything but complain?" Edward muttered under his breath, carefully leading Bella around the pack of crabby young women who had flocked to the prince, concurrently trapping him and causing a rather unusual congestion in traffic. "As if anyone would be attracted to that."

But there were a few affable princesses hidden in the crowd; a girl with dark hair smiled pleasantly at Bella, and gaggle of the younger royals even tried to include her in a conversation about the town's clock tower… at least, until they realized she had no voice. And none of them had the courage to ask Edward what she was trying to say.

Regardless, Bella was amazed by how much she enjoyed herself. Though the walking was strenuous and baffling, the near-synesthesiac qualities of the city more than made up for any discomfort felt by her feet. Bella delighted in the quaint, yeasty bakery with its many flour spills… the seamstress with her spools of a hundred hues, each shining vibrantly in the golden light of late afternoon… the linen dresses in the window of a well-to-do shop… the sea-shell chimes that tinkled merrily in the doorway of the local grocers. And the people! Bella had never seen so many types of people: tall, short, bent, lean, light, dark, smooth, wrinkled, round, thin… all dressed in the dizzying rainbow of colors she now knew you could find anywhere her on land.

_It's all so incredible, _she said—though silently—to Edward after they'd followed their travel group across a particularly busy street, only barely avoiding being hit by a gang of rambunctious 5-year-olds with a toy wheel. _I can hardly believe my eyes. Do humans really make all of this with their bare hands?_

"They have little else to do with their time," the sea witch sighed, apathetic. "Though I suppose their tenacity is rather astonishing, if you think about it. Always busy, never tiring… like ants, almost. Though ants do have a tendency to work better in groups."

As he spoke, Edward lowered Bella into a chair of wrought black iron, crafted from thin bars that rose and wove together like metallic ivy. This chair—and one of its many identical brethren—had been paired and placed at a cozy round table, festooned with fine china and a bouquet of white roses. It was not alone; dozens of identical pieces of furniture had been positioned around the edges of the city center: another cul-de-sac, much like the one before the palace, at the heart of which was a splendid water fountain filled with koi. Glowing paper lanterns had been strung from roof-top to roof-top, and as a lavender twilight gradually fell over the city, the candles inside fizzled to life.

_It's night already? _Bella gaped, visibly stunned as she lifted her eyes to the cloudless mauve sky. Framed by the growing gloom, the pink lanterns shimmered like fairy-lights; around her, the princesses chatted happily over their elaborate dishes of soup and shrimp. _But… where did the day go?_

"It must have run away from you, my dear," Edward lightly teased, one leg crossed over the other as he unfolded a napkin in his lap. He did not, however, proceed to eat. Rather, he toyed with the cloth's lace edging, as if entertained by the sheer redundancy of it all. "But I assure you, it did stick around for its required term of service. I was here— I watched you enjoy it to the fullest."

_Nonsense! We only just got to town— _She began ticking hours off on her fingers, her irritated features smoothing with surprise as she realized how much time had passed.— _Oh. Oh my. I… I guess I was just having so much fun…_

"Excuse me."

Startled by the sound of the new voice, Bella twisted her head upwards—past the milky flowers and her Champaign flute and the sea witch's sudden glower— to find the Prince standing above her, bent forward in a slight bow. For a beat she merely gawked at him… then, as if waking from a trance, ducked her head as a fierce blush overcame her.

Jacob chuckled genially. "Yes, I'm talking to you, princess. I did not see much of you today… I was wondering if you've had a good time."

Out of habit, Bella opened her mouth—

"Yes, she did," Edward interrupted coolly, turning so as to flash the prince a swift, cold smile. "We apologize that we did not spend as much time with your grace as politeness dictates; I found it difficult to lead her safely through the masses."

"Understandable," Jacob returned, though his answering grin seemed the slightest bit forced. "There are many people in this city."

"Actually, I was referring to the mass of young woman perpetually surrounding you," the sea witch retorted evenly, tapping his foot to a steady, bored rhythm. His green eyes were abnormally frosty, even by Edward's standards. "Perhaps the people of your kingdom have a different understanding of the word 'marriage'… silly me, I presumed it entailed monogamy. Of course, I am not judging you—what man hasn't occasionally wished for a harem?"

Jacob's body stiffened, as if preparing for a fight. But to his credit, he merely forced his smile back a few more teeth—as if baring his canines.

"I admit, this festival of fair maidens is a tad unusual, but my advisor thought knowing all of the eligible princesses personally would make it easier for me to choose a bride. Speaking of," he added easily, twisting his back to Edward and offering Bella his hand and a jovial beam, "there is one princess at this table whom I'd very much like to know more personally. Isabella, would you honor me with a dance?"

Bella, who'd been busily trying to understand the bitter subtext the men were so carelessly tossing back and forth, was justifiably startled by the attention suddenly thrust upon her. Jacob, his fingers splayed and ready to twine with her own, was looking hopeful; Edward behind him, however, was looking as if he wished to strangle the prince with a tentacle.

And for some strange reason, the sea witch's evident fury made Bella angry too. So furious, in fact, that her throat began to sear—as if it were ablaze—!

But before she could respond, Edward's face calmed; he looked as composed as a man who'd never once been irritated in his life. With a polite smile that seemed a hint twisted at the corners, he nodded, glanced away, and gestured for Bella to accept Jacob's proposal.

_Uh... _Faintly bewildered—though at least the fire of her anger was ebbing away— Bella offered a tiny grin and slid her hand into the prince's, allowing him to help her to her feet. As soon as she was standing, his arm curled around her middle; he glanced away and nodded to someone unseen.

In the shadows of the ally, a trio of violins began to play a haunting waltz.

…_I think the other girls may kill me after this,_ Bella mouthed discreetly, casting furtive looks towards the other tables. As Jacob spun her in easy circles, as lightly as if she were a rag doll, a number of other princesses glared and glowered, hissing to one another behind raised hands. Just one princess, whose name—Bella had overheard—was Angela, seemed unconscious of and unaffected by the others' jealousy and rage; as Bella was twirled past by the prince, she beamed and waved rapidly. It was enough to make Bella's already pink face maroon.

The only other person in the vicinity as unaware as Princess Angela was the prince himself: he was too busy watching Bella with his warm russet eyes, an endearing quirk upon his lips.

"So did you really have a good time today?" he asked quietly—though the eagerness in his voice was apparent. Bella quickly nodded, though she had to admit her mind was elsewhere: it was hard to keep her weak feet moving, much less moving gracefully in a box-step pattern. If Jacob noticed her discomfort, though, he didn't bother showing it; in fact, at this point his smile was so radiant that it even stunned Bella into a temporary stupor: for a moment, she forgot what had been distracting her.

She remembered a minute later when she almost tripped on a pebble.

"I'm glad to hear it. Or, rather, see it," the still-oblivious Jacob whispered, reverent and low, as he pulled her ever closer—her nose brushing his when she chanced a peek upward, engulfing herself fully in his admiring stare.

Bella had to admit, it made her feel highly uncomfortable.

"I know I hardly know you," Jacob breathed, as if reading her mind, "but… there's something so familiar about your hands… your eyes… your face. And not just in the rather macabre way I referenced to last night." He averted his eyes for a moment, blushing faintly in embarrassment. "It's just… there's something so _different_ about you. Something odd, but wonderfully so."

Bella wondered briefly if he'd enjoy hearing a list of her oddities… somehow she doubted it. Even still—despite any potential sarcastic remarks or her own scathing wit—she had to admit… she was being charmed. Bizarre as it seemed, she felt the same way about the young prince in her embrace: there was something weirdly familiar about him, even though they'd only met yesterday.

"…I, um, meant that as a compliment, you know," he muttered, clearly flustered, when Bella turned her face away, gingerly biting her bottom lip. "I know it didn't _sound _that way—er, sorry, I really don't have a way with words."

He offered her a roguish smile and shrugged, trying to make light of it. "What I _meant_ to say was that I'm rather fascinated by you. You're absolutely beautiful—oh, don't blush! Really, Isabella, you are!— but you don't flaunt it as the others do. You don't ever speak, but it's like you don't _need_ to. You haven't once tried to fling yourself at me… and believe me, after so many days of this I find that quite attractive in a woman. And while I don't know you that well, I feel as if I'm growing fond of you."

Here Jacob paused, as if only just realizing all he'd confessed, and turned pink as Bella arched an eyebrow, grinning.

"Of course," the prince hurriedly continued, clearing his throat in a self-conscious sort of way, "I don't think your servant _approves_ of that…"

_Servant?_ Briefly puzzled, Bella cast a quick glance in the direction Jacob had indicated with a small chin-thrust. Within seconds his meaning had become apparent: Edward, sitting statue-still in his black iron chair, seemed to have been watching their slow waltz the entire time— eyes as cold as the emeralds they imitated.

She quickly shrunk away, feeling unusually warm all over her body. But why? Because of his _stare_? _What does that man _do_ to me?_

Bemused as Bella instinctively buried her red face in the front of his shirt, Jacob's expression slowly morphed into a sardonic leer. "Ah," he hummed, spinning them around the erupting fountain and dancing with her beneath the resultant, glittering mist. "I see."

The young woman's face immediately snapped up, drained of all color and life. He saw? What did he see? How much did he know? And why had his words terrified her so? _You do? _she instinctively mouthed, grip tightening around his shirt and hand. And to her surprise—as well as, it appeared, Jacob's own—he understood her.

His smile became gentle; he tucked a lock of waving chestnut hair behind her ear. "Well, of course. It's clear by his personality: he just doesn't like anybody, does he?"

"Well, that's not exactly true."

Both prince and princess froze at the soft, lilting voice directly behind Jacob; the speaker's smile was evident, even if they couldn't see it. "Certainly there are people I like—such as my Bella, who's lower anatomy your right hand is much too close to. However, I do admit to being fairly picky about the company I keep."

Jacob, looking slightly whiter than he had moments ago, twisted his head enough to meet Edward's chilled gaze… and his fingers flew back up the girl's waist, as if doing so was necessary for survival. Looking at Edward, it seemed as if that might be the case.

Fully aware of his potentially-traitorous, nuanced threat, the green-eyed man grinned, offering Jacob a polite nod of the head. "If I may be so bold, your majesty," he murmured, the words husky and full of cold suggestion. "You've been dancing with my princess for quite some time now. May I cut in and, perhaps, allow you to offer companionship to others of your… coven?"

For a moment—once the initial shock of his appearance had worn off—Jacob looked ready to inform Edward that no, he was quite content with his current partner.

But then Edward's eyes flashed crimson, and Jacob's already-loosened hands flew from Bella as if she'd burned him.

"Yes, thank you," the prince muttered, almost mechanically, as the sea witch wrapped Bella securely in his arms. Jacob graced Bella with a half-bow in gratitude for her companionship, then walked briskly towards the next-nearest table, his hand already outstretched in invitation.

"…that was sudden," Bella whispered, so startled by the prince's abrupt decision to run off that it took her a minute to realize she had spoken. And by the time she had, Edward had already swept her far from the others, twirling her beneath the paper lanterns; at that point, she had other things to think about, rather than the sudden return of her voice. Things such as her continued presence on the dance floor, which did not make her happy.

"Why are we still dancing?" she groaned, dropping her head dramatically against the sea witch's shoulder as she sighed. "I didn't want to dance with the prince, and I certainly don't want to dance with you. I'm sure you've realized by now that I cannot even walk, much less dance. Please, just put me out of my misery."

In response to this, however, Edward merely raised a brow, tickled by her irritation rather than threatened. "Come now, Bella," he chuckled, rolling his jade-green eyes, "this isn't all that bad. Don't ruin an otherwise perfect evening for me…"

"Perfect?" Intrigued, Bella glanced upward to shoot the man an inquisitive stare. "You like to dance that much?"

The sea witch snorted, and seemed very close to rolling his eyes a second time. "No, silly girl," he breathed, leaning forward to rest his forehead upon her own. "I like being with _you_ that much."

As Bella was busy blushing, Edward swiftly readjusted her feet: placing them atop his own so that when he moved, she did. This positioning brought them even closer than before, the few layers of cloth between their swaying hips rubbing and resisting and creating friction. Edward seemed to enjoy the teasing sensation; once Bella caught the gleam in his eye, she realized so did she. Or perhaps it was just the tingly feeling of his fingers on her lower back that made her feel that way.

"…you know," she whispered after a long pause, gingerly whetting her lips with the tip of her tongue, "I was thinking… how you said I enjoyed today to the fullest. And how we like being together."

"I believe I said _I _like to be with _you,_" Edward interrupted mellifluously, but silenced himself at her glare, choosing to celebrate any further amusement in silence.

"Yes, well…" Bella continued, trying to swallow away the color in her cheeks. "I did all of those things. I did all of those things and more—all the things that Alice had said I would."

"Hmm. She does have a knack for such predictions," the sea witch commented dispassionately, though his eyes said something all together different. But what that something different was, Bella couldn't tell.

Encouraged by this, she pressed bravely onward, trying to quell the faint feeling of nervous nausea churning in her stomach.

"I agree. But regardless, it got me wondering…"

"…about?" he quietly prompted after a pause, taking them to the left with a dip and a spin.

"About Alice," Bella finally murmured, eyes downcast. "And Jasper. And you."

Faintly puzzled, Edward arched an eyebrow—detached indifference in his stare. "Indeed," he deadpanned, though he didn't seem angry… which Bella had been worried that he might be; he did tend to get worked up over the strangest things. "Is their anything specific you've been pondering?"

"Well… where did they come from, for one," she said in a rush, as if afraid she might forget something if she didn't spit it out now. "And where you come from, for that matter. Who else do you help with your magic—for I know you have a reputation, and yet I've never seen anyone like myself in all the seas. Why are you here with me right now, and how are you able to appear as a mortal? Why are you so…" Despite herself, Bella hesitated—looking demurely towards the ground before glancing up beneath her lashes, anxious. "Why are so kind to me now? Why… do you seem afraid to let me go?"

Silence. During which time Edward gaped candidly at her, wide-eyed and thin-lipped and stunned.

But soon his astonishment had melted into chortles, and Bella felt herself relax as a crooked smile formed on his face.

"My my, aren't you the curious one, dear heart," he murmured, still chuckling to himself as their twirling gradually slowed, leaving them rocking in place as the sea witch organized his thoughts. "Though I'm afraid the answers to your questions involve a few stories… some of which I don't believe a young lady would like to hear before bedtime."

Even as he spoke the words, Edward knew it was pointless—she would not be deterred. And her obstinacy was a great source of entertainment for him… His grin widened, knowing he'd never be able to resist her pouting glare.

"…even I do not know where I come from," he began after a silence, head tilted towards the night sky. The violet hues had turned navy-blue and ebony while they weren't paying attention; pinpricks of light were slowly growing brighter and larger and spreading rapidly across the heavens. "Perhaps I did at one point, but I've forgotten as the millennia have gone by. There may have even been a time when I was not alone… but if that is true, I do not remember it. All I've ever known is the ocean, its darkness, the magic of my spells... and solitude."

Edward sighed, though it wasn't a sigh of misery—it seemed more akin to exasperation. "Century after century I wandered, lamenting in my loneliness. It was all quite _boring_, I must admit. I never saw any creatures like myself—certainly not anyone with whom to carry on meaningful conversations. And so I began to associate myself with the beings of land. Yes," he nodded, seeing the recognition in Bella's fascinated eyes. "Humans."

"I thought you hated humans," she said dimly, enraptured by his tale.

"I'd like to point out—for the second time—that I never said that. True, I'm not fond of them, but…" He shrugged, unabashed. "But back then I did not mind at all. And even now I must admit that their company is better than no company at all. Not to mention they kept me busy: it did not take them long to realize the full extent of my power, and I was often employed to create spells and potions to help ease the troubles of their pathetic little lives. What's more, I found that I enjoyed doing it. I was an… appallingly happy, compassionate man—if I may use the term lightly—, back in those days. Thinking of it now makes me feel a bit sick."

It was true, he did look a trifle green. Strange, Bella mused, how the memory of empathy for mortals could make him feel ill. She tilted her chin to stare up at him, about to offer words of support of comfort… but once her eyes had found his, his nausea appeared to vanish. More than that, it made his hard, gemstone gaze soften for a moment…

Though Bella thought she felt a strange pinching in her heart.

"It was during one of those ancient days that I first met Alice and Jasper," Edward persisted, not acknowledging the strange electric jolt that had just run through them. "They were secret lovers from a city in Greece, a country that I frequented often. Unlike the other humans who would beg for my help, they were ready to do whatever it took to win my favor… from groveling to murder."

As he spoke, the sea witch's gaze grew distant, as if seeing something beyond reality—as if remember a good dream. "It was their desperation that caught my attention. I asked what they could possibly need so badly that they'd be willing to go to all that. 'An escape,' they told me. 'We're willing to do anything to escape.'"

"Escape what?" Bella asked weakly, hanging on his every word.

Edward's mouth twisted into a satirical smile. "The world," he replied, tone flat though his emerald orbs sparkled with private amusement. "The world and everyone in it. Neither had very happy lives on Earth… back then, Alice was known by the name Cassandra, and was close to madness. She suffered terribly from vision after vision of the future—not that anyone believed her ravings. Jasper was a young sailor called Jason, who—while a decorated hero— had a number of familial problems. He had also been cursed by black magic, making it… difficult… to control his emotions. It seemed an ex-wife had decided he was too impassive and tried to correct that."

"So what did you do?"

"Nothing tremendously tricky," the sea witch said flippantly, though he seemed blatantly proud of himself. "They willingly surrendered their lives and their powers to me. In exchange, I granted them eternal existence as my minions, away from the worries and concerns of their mortal lives. They take whatever form I deem appropriate and scour the seas for those in need of my… services: sailors, wreck survivors, villagers. They're quite loyal to me… and to each other."

The princess felt her cheeks turn hot at the subtle suggestion, but was not surprised by it. Alice and Jasper did seem rather affectionate towards one another… They didn't often show it physically, but there was an unspoken pull between them— like a pair of magnets, always gravitating towards the other.

"…well, that explains half of it," Bella muttered after a minute, absorbing as much of this story as she was able. It was, however, hard to concentrate with Edward's arms wrapped so firmly around her, his hips so adeptly cradling her own, his breath gently tickling her neck… all of which, thankfully, reminded her of one of her original questions. "But now, tell me—what are you doing here? You almost seemed to hate me when I first approached you. Yet, here you are now… helping me, holding me. Why? How do you have this body? What is our connection?"

Beneath her breasts, Edward's chest rumbled—full of bottled laughter as her questions floated on air.

"What an amusing turn of phrase," he whispered, as if to himself, as they swayed delicately back and forth, keeping time to the unhurried melody. "Hmm. To put it simply, you complete me… and bring out the goodness that I thought I'd lost forever. Oh, and as for my body—" Here Edward winked, and it nearly made Bella's mind go blank.— "Well, whatever it takes to make you happy. And you seem, for the moment, to be interested in human anatomy…"

Flustered and feeling peculiarly feverish, Bella hurriedly looked away, her mortification at the double entandre completely obliterating her desire for a less cryptic answer.

It was a fact that Edward found endlessly amusing. "Oh, don't stress yourself so, my love," he soothed, his honey-sweet words both lulling and persuasive. "Be calm. Enjoy this moment. Savor the present with me…"

Wedged between her throat and his chest, the unseen topaz necklace flashed.

Her eyes glazed and mind mushy, Bella did as she was told without complaint: cuddling into Edward with a muffled sigh, a hazy smile forming upon her lips. "…hey," she breathed after a moment, fuzzily aware of that fact that her consciousness seemed to be fading—as if she were falling asleep. From somewhere that sounded far, far away, the clock tower began to chime. "Would you sing that song, please? The song you sang when we met…"

She paused, about to add 'last night' to the query, but was surprised by how complete the request sounded without it. Dimly, Bella wondered why that was.

One way or the other, Edward didn't comment. Rather, he turned his attention to separate matters, related though they were; she could hear his grin as he pressed his lips to the rim of her ear, delighting in her shiver as he whispered: "As you wish."

A deep breath.

"_The sea awoke at midnight from its sleep_

_And round the pebbly beaches far and wide_

_I heard the first wave of the rising tide_

_Rush onward with uninterrupted sweep…_"

"Mmmm," Bella hummed, lashes fluttering feebly as the poignant tenor of his voice drifted around them, as calming and rhythmic as the lapping of the ocean's waves against the shore. "It's odd, you know… I feel as if… I know that song from somewhere…"

Edward did not reply to this, either. Instead, he allowed the melody to grow fainter and fainter, fading along with her awareness. Around her neck, the topaz shone like a luminous star; unheard, the clock-bell chimed midnight.

"…_of things beyond our reason or control._"

For the first time in more than an hour, the sea witch paused—both in his dancing and his speaking. She was unconscious.

He smirked.

Lifting his patron effortlessly into his arms, Edward spun once clockwise; around him, the scenery melted and blurred like a dripping painting. Colors changed and faded, shapes formed and morphed and swirled. Once the picture dried, the portrait of the town square had been changed into one of the castle's gardens, complete with a full moon glowing overhead.

"Here we are, then," Edward murmured to no one in particular, carefully lowering the slumbering girl onto the wide stone lip of the fountain, allowing himself a moment to simply drink in her splendor. The delicate feet; the long legs; the flared hips and tiny waist; supple bosom; petite hands; a face more beautiful than words could describe…

In a flash, his slender legs had straddled her middle, his body arched above her own and his temple pressed to hers.

"You're just as lovely as you were that day," the sea witch purred into her ear, tracing a hand down her cool, porcelain face. Her rose-petal lips parted slightly; she breathed an engaging little sigh. "I am sorry, my dear, but I simply cannot allow this filth the chance to hurt you again. Hate me if you will; I know you'll understand someday."

"_Master._"

Torn from his thoughts by the shadowed appearance of his familiars, Edward straightened—though he kept astride her quite pointedly. "Ah," he drawled, running a hand through his windswept tresses. "It's that time, is it?"

Alice and Jasper, unseen in the darkness, did not speak. There was no need.

"Very well."

Reaching forward with the keenness of a child who wanted candy, Edward allowed his spindle-thin fingers to creep up the sleeping Bella's bodice: over the planes of her stomach, across her taut ribcage, between her rounded breasts… and wrapped his hands around the golden topaz, its center now burning in the faint, cindery way of yesterday's aquamarine.

He ripped it off in one quick yank.

"There we are," he cooed amiably, marveling at the magic stone he now held between two fingers. "Don't you feel better, pet? That's two dimensions I've now garnered control of… soon, you won't have to worry about anything at all."

Beneath him, the dreaming Bella moaned in her sleep.

The sound made Edward quiver with sweet longing.

"Alice, dear," he murmured, saccharine voice dark with desire as he leaned forward once more, lacing his fingers between the unresponsive Bella's. "I simply must know… Does the Future smile upon me on this night?"

Hidden in the gloom, a silhouette seemed to smile.

"It is everything you wished and more, my master."

The sea witch leered, jade eyes crackling with glee. "Most excellent," he breathed, the words thick with pleasure and sensual yearning. Before he could stop himself, he pressed his cold lips to the girl's pulsing jugular, thrilling in the warmth he felt just beneath her skin.

"Sleep well, my dear Bella," Edward murmured, pulling back enough to dust a butterfly kiss upon her cheek. "For when you wake… you are mine."

**XXX**

Snaps to anyone who figured out who the two princesses were supposed to be, or knows the myths connected to Alice and Jasper's 'pasts.' X3


	4. Day Three: Future

_Disclaimer:_ Haha, yeah no. Twilight is still Stephenie Meyer's, The Little Mermaid is still Disney's and Hans Christian Anderson's (though I'm only borrowing slight inspiration from them, as I'm sure you've realized by this point), and The Sound of the Sea is Longfellow's. I actually barely own any of this… it's rather distressing, to be perfectly honest.

_Author's Note: _Woo-hoo, I did it! I finished a chapter fic! I'm so _proud_ of me…

By the way guys, when I said "snaps for anyone who knew" I didn't mean "attack me with your knowledge of Greek mythology-slash-your ability to recognize Twilight!bitches." To be sure, I'm impressed by everyone's' worldliness and mad observation skillz, but goodness… some of you were almost rabid about it! (It was actually a little amusing.)

Ah well. It certainly got you guys reviewing! XD Thank you. I appreciate that more than I can say.

With that in mind—here is the end of Elegiac! And once you finish it, I invite you to go back and re-read. Not because I'm greedy and want the reviews (though I do appreciate reviews, hint hint), but because I think you'll catch a lot more of the subtext now. (Because I wrote out this entire fic before posting even the prologue, I was able to throw more hints than usual into the story. So you know, if you have some spare time…)

_Warnings: _Attempts at plot twists. Tentacle-molestage-ness. Other not-nice stuff.

**XXX**

**ELEGIAC**

**Day Three: Future**

**XXX**

The next morning, she was again awoken by the hands.

Or, at least, she thought she was awake: she felt wholly conscious, completely aware of the fingertips as they caressed every inch of her skin, leaving invisible, burning trails in their wake. And yet, despite this, Bella found she could not move. Her vision was black, her arms pinned to her sides… All she could do was groan in half-hearted resistance as—without warning—the heat seeped into her core.

It was as if she suddenly had no mass, no skin. The hands had passed through every barrier, every defense her body had to offer; they were inside her, filling her, taking over her tendons, ligaments, bones, muscles…

She was the puppet of an unseen master. Her center tensed, her neck snapped backwards, her mouth was wrenched open by a horrible, pleasured scream.

Light returned to her eyes with a flash.

Bolting upright with a yelp and a sob, Bella instinctively yanked her legs to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and shot furtive glances every which way, torn between terror and a bizarre, carnal craving that she did not understand. As her gaze focused further, she noticed the sun that shone brightly through the windows; she noted how the room looked as cozy and inviting as ever. And she hated its quaint normalcy— it almost seemed to mock her as her entire body shook with fear and need, tendrils of chestnut hair clinging to the cold sweat that was seeping from her pores, making her neck and back itch.

_What's going on? _the girl thought, panicked and pale, as she hurriedly swept her tangled locks behind her ears. The feeling of violation she'd suffered the previous morning was both back with a vengeance and worse than ever: the sickening sensation refused to fade as wakefulness overtook her, refused to let her be. Rather, Bella was left wondering if it was possible for lead to replace the blood in one's veins; her body was heavy and full and felt as if it was not her own. It was as if she were not a true person anymore.

At the musing, Bella's heart skipped a beat. _Not a person. Oh my God…_

It was today, wasn't it? Today was the third day—if she wasn't kissed by the one who loved her as much as she loved him, she would return to being a monster of the deep. She would be forced back into the darkness and the coldness of the ocean.

She would belong to the sea witch for all time.

_I can't let it end like this,_ Bella thought desperately, clawing at the soft comforter draped over her lap. _I came here for a reason. I loved someone—I remember that much from my first meeting with Edward. I wanted to be human... because there was someone I needed to be human for... but who? Who was it? _

She had no idea. For all of her attempts, all of her mental straining, Bella could not remember anything before her deal with the sea witch. And as she had not mentioned the name of her beloved before making the covenant... It was like there was a cerebral blockade around whoever it was she wished to remember. Why? How? That made no sense!

Frustrated, Bella began to gnaw worriedly on the tip of her thumb…

But was torn from her musings by a knocking on the door.

"Bella? Bella, my dear?" Their was a soft creaking as Alice poked her head into the room, wearing her usual winning smile and a ruffled dress of smoke-gray silk. "Good morning, sleepy head! You certainly slept in late… good dreams?"

Distracted, Bella merely blinked at the pixie of a woman, watching vacantly as she spun into the room, another silver tray in her hands; breakfast this morning seemed to consist of oatmeal and a warm biscuit. With a beam, Alice handed her the platter. With a frown, Bella poked churlishly at the meal, refusing to eat.

It was a fact that, to Bella's surprise, did not go unnoticed.

Pausing mid-twirl, the smaller woman's cheerful expression drooped a fraction, her enthusiasm waning. "…what's the matter?" Alice asked kindly, genuine concern in her dark eyes. As she waited for an answer, she slid beside the princess on the bed; a tender hand pat Bella's knee comfortingly.

Even still, the feeling of more fingers on her skin—even visible fingers— made the girl squirm.

"Come now, child," Alice prompted after another moment, unperturbed. "You can tell me."

_I…_Hesitant, Bella stirred her warm porridge, unsure of how to put her feelings into words. She was even less sure of how to convey them to Alice, who was, after all, in Edward's employment. Not that she wanted to complain about the sea witch—he had, after all, warned her of the cost of doing this, and had been so surprisingly kind to her the past few days. He'd set it up so that she'd want for nothing while on land, and had given her every opportunity to do what she needed to do…

If only she could remember what needed to be done!

Alice waited for another minute, but after that it seemed her patience had been spent. "Well, whatever it is, I know this will cheer you up," she said earnestly, clasping Bella's hand in her own. "The prince has decided to meet individually with his favorite princesses today, and you're on the list! In fact, he gave _you_ the biggest time slot! Isn't that wonderful?"

Her pretty little face shone with vicarious excitement, and Bella found herself unable to stay sulky.

"See?" Alice sang as a tiny smile touched the princess' lips. "I knew that'd make you happy! Now, it's already almost noon—you're scheduled to meet him in the gazebo near the cliffs at 5. And, as we want to make you look good enough to eat—or, in this case, kiss—we're going to need every minute we have!"

_5 hours? _Bella gawked, appalled. She was to spend 5 hours of her last day as a human stuck in a room trying on clothes? _But— but yesterday you had me dressed and ready to go in less than 10 minutes!  
_

"Different circumstances, my dear," Alice interjected flippantly, hopping off the bed to dance to the amour. "Yesterday you merely had to look more attractive than any of the other tramps. That's child's play. Today, you must look so achingly beautiful that an angel himself would weep at the sight of you!"

…_that seems a little extreme,_ Bella pointed out delicately, but was utterly ignored. Alice was having too much fun rooting through the glut of silks and taffetas peeking and poking out of the closet, each shade more vibrant and striking than the last.

"Today's color scheme is violet," Alice announced after a moment of consideration, spinning away from the wardrobe with a twirl that would make a professional ballerina jealous. "Here, put this on first. We'll decide what looks best with it and go from there."

From a pocket, the lithe young woman produced a third choker necklace, this one crafted from a velvet cord of deep purple. The pentagonal gem that dangled from it had been carved out of high-quality amethyst, and was fastened to its ribbon by a short string beaded with three black pearls.

"Hmm… perhaps a less conventional dress today," Alice muttered to herself, tossing Bella the necklace without a backwards glance. It arched gracefully through the air and landed with a noiseless _plop_ in the girl's outstretched hands, its warm weight oddly reassuring. Without a second thought, she snapped the choker securely into place.

Distracted by her own thoughts, Bella missed Alice's smile twisting into a hidden smirk.

**X**

Though the experience was long, torturous, and—in Bella's opinion—very much a waste of precious time, she had to admit that Alice knew what was what when it came to fashion. Much like she had done yesterday and the day before, Bella needed a moment to make sure that the breathtaking young woman staring back from the mirror was actually her; it didn't seem possible.

Today's ensemble was less formal than days past: instead of eveningwear she'd been clothed in a pale, off-the-shoulder dress much like a slip or nightgown. Over it, Alice had laced a charcoal corset with violet ribbons and trim, then adorned her feet in little cream slippers. Her hair cascaded down the small of her back in mahogany waves, and her face had been spruced ever so lightly with makeup. Upon her throat, the dark gem of her necklace glistened brightly… even seemed to glow.

Overall, Bella had to admit that she found her own beauty somewhat distracting…

…she felt a bit bad for the prince.

Alice had been the one to bring her to the gazebo—she seemed to fear someone ruining her work on the way over. But once they'd arrived and Jacob had first seen Bella, his jaw dropping in wordless wonder, the pixie-girl had very quickly vanished, leaving the two in an awkward silence ever since.

_Not that I can do much about that,_ Bella thought wryly, sitting beside the prince on a white wooden bench. Above them, clinging to the porch's eves and ceiling, green ivy grew wild; columbine blossomed beside the fencing and step. Beyond the gazebo, goldenrods wove up and down and back and forth like waves in the wind until they met the sheer drop of the nearby cliffs, giving way for the true waves of the sea. From somewhere unseen, seagulls called mournfully to one another, as if lamenting the slowly setting sun.

"…you know," Jacob said suddenly, voice low and bashful as he stared outward, determinedly avoiding Bella's gaze. "I didn't really want to meet with any of the princesses today. Anyone… except you."

_Ah… um…_Flustered, Bella's cheeks grew hot; she pressed her hands to them, hoping her cold fingers would cool them down. She wished she could tell him how flattering that was, though she wondered why he was interested in her. It wasn't as if she was thrilling company.

"To be honest," Jacob continued softly, strands of his shaggy black hair dancing in a gentle, salty breeze, "In the beginning, I found this entire contest exceedingly primitive and unnecessary. I didn't want a bride who only coveted a title—I wanted someone who'd love me for who I am, and someone I could love unabashedly. Out of spite, I was going to refuse to marry anyone who came here… But then there was you."

With wide-eyed wonder, the prince turned his head to stare deep into Bella's doe-brown orbs, one large hand sliding over to cover her own. The gesture made the girl's heart thrum loudly, almost painfully, in her chest.

But the adrenaline was not from happiness. Even Bella— trapped in this human body, barraged by a million contradicting emotions—could tell that much.

"I… I don't know how to explain it," Jacob whispered reverently, brow puckering as he tried to sort out his next words. "There's something about you that's so familiar, so enchanting… and yet, so fresh and mysterious and new. Like I knew you in another life, and we were destined to meet again. You mesmerize me. You're someone I can see myself ruling beside, living for, and loving with every fiber of my being until the day I die."

He scooted an inch closer; Bella tried to subtly move the other way. _You only just met me,_ she wished to snap, irritation twisting up her churning stomach, _why are you saying this?_ But Jacob seemed to mistake the baffled panic in her gaze as nervous demureness and leaned ever closer, trailing two fingers down the side of her face.

It reminded her of Edward.

_Edward…_ Bella thought desperately. Despite herself, she felt tears begin to form, burning the back of her eyes like an acid. The stone around her neck felt like a coal; her bottom lip trembled with terror.

"Isabella," Jacob breathed, long lashes quivering as he slowly closed his eyes, tilting his head and bringing their faces closer… and closer… "I think I… _I think I love you…_"

His mouth met hers with gentle malleability.

For a moment, Bella thought her heart might explode.

_No!_ she mentally cried, struggling against the hands that held her. Jacob, justifiably confused, pulled back an inch or so, blinking down at the highly alarmed, now-thrashing girl in his arms. _No, I don't even _know_ you, I don't love you! Please, get off of me—take me to Edward! _

But of course, the prince understood none of that. "Isabella?" he questioned lightly, hurt in his voice as he came to realize her tears were not those of joy. "What's the matter?"

Concerned, he tried to tilt her chin upwards, to meet his stare with her own. Unaware of his innocent intentions, Bella assumed he might try to kiss her again; the thought filled her with revulsion. In alarm, she pushed frantically against his chest, her tears now uncontrollable sobs.

Where was Edward? Where was the sea witch? All she wanted in the entire world was to be with him that very instant, wrapped in his arms. He was so safe, so familiar… the only thing she recognized, remembered in the entire world. Why on earth would she want to be in the embrace of this stranger—he was too warm, to big, too alien! No, she needed to get out of there… she needed to get to the garden.

Jacob—now very concerned for the princess's sanity—watched in silent mystification as a volley of emotions played out on Bella's easily-read face: horror, need, loneliness, repulsion… realization. Pasty-faced, eyes bugged, and lips thin, Bella's tiny fists clenched in decision.

_I must go,_ she mouthed, and managed to break free of Jacob's grasp, which had long-since been weakened by bewilderment. To the surprise of both parties, Bella managed to lift herself fairly steadily to her feet, and was even able to lurch forward without hurting herself. Though it was more of a toddle than a walk, she made it just fine on her own.

Stunned by so many incongruous things, Jacob watched wordlessly as the girl barreled away, her mind set and arms extended.

**X**

She could hear him before she could see him—singing his strange melody to the sunset sky, his voice almost too lovely to withstand. With dreadful longing Bella wished that her feet were faster, her strides sturdier… she wanted nothing more in the world than to be beside him right _now_. It was almost unnatural, this pull she felt… but she was far too distraught to notice or care.

"_So comes to us at times, from the unknown_

_And inaccessible solitude of being…!_"

_Edward…_ Bella panted, rounding the final tree that hid the garden from view.

And there—there he was. Lounging comfortably in the glittering fountain, shirtless and wet and chest arched towards the sun. He'd shed his human guise completely in the solitude of the trees and flowers; his long, thick tentacles shone like glossed ebony, curling idly as he sang.

"_The rushing of the sea-tides of the sou_— oh my."

Brow arched in faint surprise, Edward noticed Bella's leap towards him mid-lunge; with a casual, amused deftness, a tentacle reached out to snag her around the waist. Another lifted to join it after a moment, curling around her left leg, then her right. As the first two appendages lifted her into the air, pulling her towards him, a third rose to cradle her chin, locking her eyes with his own.

"Really, my sweet," Edward gaped, blinking twice in rapid succession as he drank in her disheveled appearance. "Whatever has happened to you? You look as if you've just thrown a temper tantrum…"

"Edward…" Bella whimpered, arms stretching downward, reaching for him. "Edward, it was _awful_…!"

"Oh dear…" With a deep throated, soothing purr, he gently lowered the girl onto his chest; like magic, the tentacles became a thick smoke, reforming as a pair of leather-clad legs and a pelvis that deliberately cradled the girl's hips beneath the shallow water. Bella, however, did not notice this transformation: she was already busily bawling her troubles into the sea witch's torso. "Ah, now, calm down, my pet. Shhhh…" Edward soothed, stroking her hair with sensual, unhurried movements. But though his words were spoken tenderly, the devious glitter in his green eyes had only intensified. "Breathe, love. Then tell me what the matter is."

"W—well…" Bella blubbered, voice catching on a hiccup, "you see, th—the prince and I were at the gazebo… and he… he told me that he loved me…!"

"Ah… How very _traumatizing_ for you," Edward murmured, forehead furrowed as he tutted sympathetically.

"It… it wasn't just that…" the girl sniffled, gingerly pushing herself into a sitting position—her waist still straddling his hips. "He… he went and he… he _kissed_ me, Edward. And as he was doing it, I realized it was something I wanted… but not something I wanted from him! For… for some reason, I… I kept thinking… of you. Of how I wanted… _you_ to kiss me."

Face on fire, Bella balled her hands into fists upon his collar bone, staring deep into his jewel-bright orbs. When, after a full minute, he had not responded, she bit her pouting bottom lip, feeling a second round of tears welling in the corners of her already puffy eyes…

But then he smoothed his palm across her cheek, gaze softening as he sat up, pulling them both to their feet. The undulating water in the fountain pool rippled around them, making the hem of Bella's dress flair; Edward pushed wet tendrils of hair behind her ears, cupping her face in his hands.

"If you want me to kiss you," the sea witch whispered, the words sweetly husky and low, "you need only to ask."

As if they were physical beings, Bella felt all of her internal struggles and maidenly fears leave her body in a rush. "Please_,_" she begged, eyes half-lidded as her voice broke with longing. "_Please, _Edward… kiss me."

His face, already mere inches from her own, melted into the most stunning of smiles.

"Then this is for you," Edward told the girl softly, an idle thumb still stroking her cheek as he moved ever nearer, his nose brushing hers… their breath mingling… "The kiss you earned long ago."

Their lips met abruptly—passionately, eagerly— Bella's hands lifting to tangle in his hair as his fingers tugged her closer, refusing to let even air come between them. It was bliss, it was heaven… And, so completely engrossed was she, that Bella failed to take notice of the laughter in his kiss: of the sharp sting of electricity that jolted from his lips to her own…

At least, until the pain of it hit her heart.

"Ah—!" Wrenching away with a stumble of agony, Bella curled around her chest with a hiss, fingers clawing uselessly at the front of her dress. In seconds the pain had intensified tenfold; it was as if her soul had caught fire, as if she'd swallowed an inferno— her body contorted, jerking uselessly, like a doll on a string. Like a statue being molded. Like a welding of iron forced to take new shape. "What is—?"

She broke off with a noiseless gasp as the sound of bubbling mirth met her ears. The clear fountain-pond around them began to churn like the sea, its clear waters darkening as Edward—emerald eyes shining with malevolent glee— released another peal of black laughter, looping his arms around Bella and dragging her close again.

"And now, you poor unfortunate soul," he chuckled, positively leering at the slack-jawed, terror-struck girl in his embrace. As his hold tightened, her body began convulsing sporadically— the ache in her chest was radiating outward and downward, setting her every nerve on fire, "it seems our little charade has come to an end. After all of this time, you finally…" —his fingers brushed her exposed chest, lingering for a moment above her heart before snapping the dulled amethyst from its chain— "…belong to me."

"Wh… what?" Mortified, Bella feebly tried to push him away, struggling against the infinitely stronger sea witch. It was a wasted effort. "I don't… I don't understand. What are you talking about? Why are you doing this to me? Why does my body _hurt_ so much…?"

"Don't worry, my sweet," Edward cooed, eyes bright as the pentagonal gem became an evanescent curl of purple smoke, swirling from his fingers into his conch shell locket. Around his neck, the charm shone like a small star. "The pain will pass soon… and then, then you'll feel stronger than you have in days. You'll be less disorientated, less forgetful… why, you'll even be able to really walk on your own. Won't that be nice?"

Bella's tear-streaked face curled into a sneer, her clenched fists shaking as she pounded angrily upon his chest. "What have you _done_ to me?!" she demanded, screaming with rage.

The sea witch merely clucked his tongue disapprovingly, utterly unfazed by the girl's assault. "Really now, princess. Is that any way to thank the man who just granted you your dearest wish?"

"Dearest wish…?" In spite of herself, Bella felt her fury replaced by stunned confusion. "What was my…?"

"Why, to become a human, of course," Edward replied dismissively, happily toying with the shell that dangled from his throat. It was currently sparkling in a splendid array of rainbow of colors: periwinkle, gold, violet, emerald, and crystal-white. "And, in the process, you granted me _my_ dearest wish: possession of your soul. So, really, I should be thanking you, too, dear heart."

With a gentle thumb, he traced the bottom of her lip, smiling as if about to kiss her again…

Bella shoved his hand away. "But I don't _want_ to be human!" she snarled, aggravation burning in the back of her throat. "I—I mean, I _did,_ but I didn't want to be human for _me._ I wanted to be human for someone _else_. Someone I loved."

"Me," the sea witch answered coolly, as if not even paying attention.

"No!" Bella hissed, so irritated that she almost began stamping her feet. "_No!_ It wasn't for you—you don't even _like_ humans! I did it for… For…"

The young girl paused, her temples creased in deep concentration. Patient and silent, Edward watched her think, a tiny grin playing on his handsome face. Still, for all of the time that drifted by—for all of the memories that Bella tried to recall—nothing came to her. Not a name, not a face… nothing.

"I… I really don't remember," she whispered after ten minutes, eyes large and glassy with astonishment and dismay. "I still don't… wait."

With a fire of true fury bursting to life behind her chocolate gaze, Bella hit the sea witch with a glare so sharp that a lesser man would have been reduced to cowering. Edward, however, merely snorted, as if amused that she'd finally seen the light.

"_You._" Dripping with disgust, the word flew from Bella's lips, the connotation behind it leaving her feeling both winded and sullied. Livid, she started jabbing a finger at the sea witch's torso, branding him with the blame. "_You_ have something to do with this! Why, Edward?! Why can't I remember?!"

With a sigh, the sea witch calmly batted her hand away, upper lip curled. "Because I own your _past_, you silly girl," he drawled, rolling his eyes. "Don't you remember? You gave it to me in exchange for your first day as a human. That means everything from the present moment and backwards is mine to control—you remember what I will, and forget what I dislike." A smug little smirk quirked the corners of his lips. "I wasn't too fond of your intended, my dear. I like it much better when he's far out of your mind."

Bella's knees wavered beneath her, the strength draining from her body as his words sunk in. "But… but how was I supposed to complete my mission on land if I…?" she began, voice trembling… but then the hopelessness of her situation struck home. She hadn't a prayer from the very beginning— there'd been no happy ending in her future.

_My future…_

Her jaw dropped.

"Alice…" the girl breathed, and this time Edward really did laugh. "Alice! You knew all along that my plan wouldn't work!"

"Of course I did," Edward chortled, unmoved by the accusation in her tone. With a careless toss of his head, he stepped onto the lip of the fountain, out of the water. He offered Bella his hand; she slapped it away with a whimper. "Do you really think I would have helped you if your little idea might have succeeded? But in all of Alice's visions of possible futures, you failed. With your voice, without your voice, with my help, without my help… Why not use your misery for my own personal gain? And oh, I have gained so very, very much…"

His spidery fingers caressed the conch; Bella collapsed in the pool.

"So… so that's it," she whispered, whetting her dry lips as her small body shook. "I'm… I'm a human. But—but what good does that do me now?!" With a wordless shriek, she slammed a fist down; the water around her rippled furiously, sloshing and splashing. "I have no memories, no soul—you've taken everything from me! I have nothing left!"

"…that's not true."

Bella paused. For a moment, she wasn't sure why… but then, though delayed, she noticed the sudden shift of tone. Edward's cruel chuckles had been abruptly replaced by a gentle lilt: soft and comforting. Desperate for any hint of hope, Bella looked upward, silently begging for good news. Above her, crouched on the lip of stone, Edward grinned.

"That's not true," he repeated, his unbroken stare full of adoration. "You'll _always_ have me."

The pin-prick of optimism vanished in the blackness of the truth.

"I don't _want_ you!" Bella screeched, leaping to her feet and scurrying away—petrified by the sudden support her previously-weak legs were now giving her. It only proved further the reality of the situation… it made her want to vomit. "I don't… I don't want anything to _do_ with you!"

"Nonsense," Edward returned easily, offering her a charming smile. "If that were true, you wouldn't be in this predicament at all, would you? Yes, I'd still own your soul come sunset, but you'd have been free to live your own life… I wouldn't have come collecting until after your lifespan had run out. You'd have been free to live your mortal years as _Jacob's_—" For once, his composure slipped; he spat the name as if it made him ill, "—brainless puppet, content to follow him around as the wife this world expects you to be. Yet, you are not beside him right now. Instead, you stand here with me… ha, instead, you _ran_ to my side! And it was my kiss that sealed you in this form. You cannot hide from the truth, my dear. You cannot hide your feelings. At least, not from those who can already see them so clearly."

"If you were able to see clearly," the girl growled, swallowing harshly against the lump in her throat, "then you'd see how much _I hate you._"

"Perhaps," the sea witch agreed, lazily pointing at Bella and curling a finger. Instantly, her legs began moving on their own—bringing her closer to him, forcing her out of the water. To her surprise, though, he made no attempt to touch her; rather, he watched indifferently as she crumpled onto the cobbled path, panting hard. "But you also love me. Just as I love you."

She refused to acknowledge the passion behind his words. "If I do," Bella hissed, face scrunched in hatred, "it's only because you've _forced _me to love you. You've ruined everything!"

"_No_, love," Edward breathed, the reply dripping with sincerity. With a flutter of his lashes, he kneeled beside her, gingerly dropping one hand upon her own. She lacked the energy to pull back. "Everything has worked out the way it was meant to—meant to from the very start—even if you have yet to realize it yourself."

"That's not true," Bella grumbled, resolutely avoiding his eyes.

"It is," he assured quietly, almost consolingly. "I promise you, it is."

"And how on _earth_ could you know that?!" she challenged, acid in her voice as he inched closer, snaking an arm around her shoulder. Bella wished with all of her might to resist, but the cool skin felt so good upon her overheated flesh… and some deep, irrefutable part of her _wanted_ him there. Wanted him _closer_. _Damn him_. "Even _if_ Alice knows the future, the future is ever-changing!"

Edward half-shrugged, his fingers curling possessively around her shoulder. "For some, perhaps," he agreed, carefully pulling her into his lap. "But not for you, poor child. You sold your future to me in exchange for this last day on land, remember? Your future is mine to control; it'll be better for everyone if you don't resist this. Now, the sun is setting, my dear. You see?" He pointed towards the golden sunset as it glistened over the sapphire sea; he offered Bella a blithe beam as he pulled himself to his feet, dragging her along with him. "Come with me. We'll go home."

Hunched over and still weak from tears, Bella managed to send him one scathing look. "I'd rather _die_ than go anywhere with you," she whispered... and was surprised to feel his hands tighten painfully on her shoulder.

Glancing hurriedly upwards, the girl managed to catch the tail-end of a mutated grimace, the green eyes livid above his warped lips.

And for a moment, she feared for her life.

"…is that so…?" Edward then whispered, a dangerous edge to the words as his nails dug deeper than ever into Bella's shoulder blades, almost drawing blood. She squeaked in protest, opening her mouth to tell him to let go—

But wound up emitting a silent scream in its place, petrified as the world around her began to shift and swirl, darkening from vibrant yellow to navy-black, cold and bleak and suffocating…

And familiar.

_I—I'm under water,_ Bella realized with a start, whipping her head back and forth and up and down as she came to comprehend this twist, inconceivable as it seemed. She was underwater, but… but she could breathe. And she was still human. And Edward was there: stone-faced and scowling, hovering wraith-like beside her, his clothes, like her own, rippling in a non-existent breeze.

"Edward—" she began with a whimper, but was cut off but an angry shake of his head, his finger darting out to point upward.

"_There_," he snarled, not even bothering to look up. As if he already knew what was up above, other than just the surface world. "Look."

Tentatively, Bella did as she was told: craning her neck skyward, squinting through the murky blackness. Vaguely, she could see gray swirls of storm clouds in the distant heavens; a fork of lightening hit the water and set a sizzle of electricity through the deep. Somewhere in her peripheral vision, she could see something dark and big and black starting to sink, bubbles obscuring it partially from her sight.

And then— before her very eyes— a silhouette appeared. At first it floated high above her head, another inky blotch trapped between the borders of the two worlds. But slowly, ever so slowly, the blot began to grow larger, come closer…

_Someone's drowning. _It was statement, not question. Feeling faintly ill, Bella watched in horror as the figure came closer, became clearer: a young woman, her ratty skirts ballooning around her, chestnut hair streaming, and her panic-stricken, ashen face shining with terror and realization…

Through the darkness a familiar voice whispered in Bella's ear.

_I… I'm going to die, _the young woman thought, grim understanding making even her mental musings feel heavy. But rather than weighty with sadness, they were thick with near-tangible fury. _I'm going to drown. I saved him, and they're going to let me die…_

Beside the statuesque Edward, Bella felt her legs threaten to give out as the drowning girl twisted and writhed in her watery grave: final acts of resistance, fruitless attempts to drive off fate. During one last desperate thrash, her face flashed before Bella's eyes.

It was her own.

The Bella next to the sea witch almost vomited on the spot. But no—she continued to watch herself as if in a dream, unable to turn away…

_I hate them, _the drowning Bella was snarling, her doe-brown orbs flashing in the encroaching gloom. A claw-like hand reached towards the surface, now hundreds of yards above her. _I _hate_ them! A curse upon those filthy royals and their precious baby boy… may true happiness stare him in the face, then be ripped away! For letting me… for letting me die…_

The watery demon-girl's bright eyes were growing dull; her accusing white fingers slackened as her oxygen ran out. The small stream of bubbles that had drifted from her mouth and nose slowed to a halt; she floated, still and serene and doll-like, half-way between the sky and the sandy ocean floor.

There was a single, ethereal moment of silence.

And then, as if from no-where, a noise. A sound. A song.

"_The sea awoke from midnight from its sleep_

_And round the pebbly beaches far and wide…_"

The world around them shifted again; Bella clung to Edward's arm as the blue vanished, the sea disappeared, and they stood again in the sunset garden, surrounded by flowers and trees.

"…so," Edward said snidely, his frosty words unusually loud as they rung through the still air. His cold eyes refused to meet Bella's. "Did you enjoy that? Do you still prefer death?"

It was too much to bear.

"Oh… oh my God…" Voice barely more than a moan now, Bella sank onto the stone lip of the fountain, her icy skin pasty and tinged with green. "What was that…? A memory…? Was that… was that me?" she asked, already knowing the answer and fearing that she might lose consciousness. "What… what happened?!"

"You died."

It was succinct, blunt, and so much more than she wanted to know. But whether out of cruelty or a lack of patience for her ignorance, Edward pressed on: "In your first life, you were the nurse-maid of the baby prince—your Prince Jacob, to be precise. During a trip out to sea, the royal ship was caught in a storm. You saved the prince and managed to swim him to a tiny raft. But because the raft was already so full of people, they took the prince from your arms and kicked you away, leaving you to drown."

Having turned away with his arms crossed over his chest, the sea witch spun suddenly to face her once more, his expression impassive as he arched a single eyebrow. "I believe the humans call such situations The Carneades Plank. Atrocious, isn't it, how they even have a name for such pitiless practices?"

Bella shook her head, unhearing, as she clenched her fingers in her own hair. "But… But I can't be _dead_," she choked, dumbstruck. "I mean, I'm alive right now… wait." Teary eyed, she looked up at Edward, faint awareness dawning on her features. "That song… _you_ were there? Tell me…"

The sea witch snorted. "Of course. Our relationship is far deeper and grander than you've ever dared dream…" His mouth morphed into a crooked half-smile; he lowered himself beside Bella, gazing musingly out over the twilight-colored ocean. "So you want to know what happened, my dear? You want to know the truth of your existence? Very well. After all, I can tell you now…

"A quarter of a century ago," Edward began, voice oddly detached as he spoke—pointedly watching the rising moon as the pallid Bella gawked at him, "there was a storm at sea. It wasn't particularly grand, but it was bad enough that I knew shipwrecks were bound to be involved. And so, feeling restless, I ventured from my home at the bottom of the ocean: searching for survivors who might need my aid or request my magic. But providence had a different plan for me that night… and instead of wounded sailors, I found you."

It clearly was not a memory he enjoyed revisiting. Regardless, with a swift shake of his head, the sea witch pressed on.

"By the time I had found you, it was too late—you were dead. But you were also the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, with an aura pulsing so brightly that I knew you could still be saved, even beyond the grave. Something kept a piece of your spirit here, some last thread of regret… Once I brought you back home and began to probe your soul, I realized that it was vengeance. But if that was all you longed for, white magic wouldn't allow your rebirth. I'd have to let you go."

He sighed, raking a hand through his rumpled locks. "Yet I… I couldn't do that. Though your spirit had been dampened by the darkness of hate, you still had the most amazing soul I'd ever seen. It was so full of love and laughter and wonder—so bright and warm it filled _me_ with joy, something I had not felt for centuries. I knew, somehow, that I had to bring you back to life… no matter what the cost was to myself. And so, willing and full of confidence, I chose to follow the dangerous path of black magic."

Bella choked on a gasp; Edward smirked manically.

"The cost, I read, would be both my soul and my sanity—a price that you, like every other poor, drowned mortal, seemed every bit deserving of. Ha. Remember, back then I was foolish and naïve and full of good intentions… something that is only a distant memory now. But nevertheless I set myself to work. Before I could revive you, I needed to make you compatible with my essence; after all, a soul is most comfortable in a shape that it recognizes. As my soul was accustomed to an aqueous life form, I knew I'd need to fashion you a body suitable for the sea. At the same time, I'd determined that you'd be able to keep more than half of your soul—all that had not been tarnished by your desire for retribution— so you needed a form that was also humanoid in order to keep that half of your spirit comfortable. In the end, I decided I'd give you the body of a creature that even I had never seen, though I'd heard humans speak of it in legend."

"A mermaid…" Bella whispered, throat tightening around the word.

"A mermaid," the sea witch agreed, eyes glittering with delight. "And when your new body had been created, I knew it was my greatest work yet. I'd managed to keep your breathtaking beauty alive, as well as create a functional body for undersea life. As I gazed upon you, the first true mermaid—an immortal enchantress even more gorgeous, in my eyes, than any mere human could've dreamed of in their silly tales— I felt myself fall more deeply in love with you."

Beside her, Bella felt her companion shiver—as if a jolt of lust had shot down his spine. The action brought a blush to her face; unnerved, she looked away.

"But there was no time for that," Edward gruffly persisted after a pause, straightening in his seat. "And I couldn't grow attached, I knew that. Otherwise, the cost of reviving you would break me… as was the intention, I suppose. There's a reason they call it black magic."

"…so… so then…the cost was your soul? Are you soulless now, or dead because of me…?" Bella inquired gingerly, unable to resist touching her the sea witch's chilled arm.

With the speed of a striking viper, he snatched her hand in his own, refusing to let go as a bitter smile stole across his face.

"Heh. Almost. To be more exact, the fee was half of my soul," he murmured, gaze distant. "It wouldn't have been necessary, had your entire soul been pure. But as it was, I needed to sacrifice the good half of my essence, the light, to replace the darkness that kept you in limbo. In addition, I had to suck your darkness into my own heart, so that we each had two complete spirits—not to mention an invisible bond between us. That was very important, for the true price, I found, was not so much the sacrifice of my soul, but the fact that I must sever that bond. When you awoke, you would not remember me, nor would you remember what had happened before your revival. You were not allowed to know, lest your new spirit shatter."

Lost in his own thoughts, Edward lifted a hand to his face—hiding his visage behind his spidery fingers. When he next spoke, there was a note of hysteria hidden deep in his voice…

"The day you awoke was both the best and worst of my life. Watching you swim away was… you were so stunning it nearly tore my heart in two. At times I think it did… because when you were gone, I wasn't complete. I wasn't the same. _Nothing_ was the same. There was no happiness in life anymore; I had no desire to help others or use my magic. Alice and Jasper could do nothing but watch as I surrendered to the darkness, as I fell beyond redemption."

His own nails tore into his flesh; Bella could see a crazed glint hidden within his blank stare—shadowed by his clenched fingers.

"Twenty-five years trickled by like an eon. Alone within myself, half-insane with longing for you, I felt my mind begin to snap. My ideals warped and twisted; I began to hate the world. Your pox upon humanity became my own—this was all their fault. How could a species do that to one of their own? A woman? A weak, drowning woman who'd used all of her strength to protect a child? _No_…" the sea witch hissed, feral in his fury. "I grew to hate, just as you did. I grew to loathe the humans who had killed you, who had forced me to rip apart my soul… but mostly I pined for you. Every day, every hour, every minute. I could not contact you— not ever, not even accidentally. But there was a loophole in this rule… a loophole I knew I could exploit."

As the words left his mouth, Edward's eyes—which had been as dark as his mood, jet-black and hard as rocks—suddenly lightened, a frenzied fire bursting into existence within their deadened depths. The mania in them made Bella's blood run cold…

"I could not go to you, perhaps, but if you came to me… anything was fair, so long as you were the one to initiate contact. I didn't care what for. Anything. So long as I got to see you, feel you, be close to you again… or so I thought."

Venom dripped from his tone. Fixing his narrowed glare upon some unseen point in the distance, the sea witch chewed on the end of a claw, disgust radiating from his every pore.

"But when Alice brought you to me, it was for _him_. The one who killed you! It was the greatest of ironies— because I had removed the taint from your soul, you continued to love him. In fact, your ties to him became even stronger—so much so that you felt drawn to him even after your rebirth! I knew this from the first moment you told me you wanted to be human… but I also knew that I could use this to my advantage, too."

Around his neck, the opalescent conch gleamed brightly through the emergent dusk.

"The reason I couldn't contact you, the reason you couldn't know of your past, was because your heart would have shattered upon realizing what you'd gone through. As the victim, your psyche would be too weak to keep the individual bits of the soul conjoined once it realized it was a hybrid. Rather like not knowing you've been injured until you see the wound, what you did not know couldn't hurt you. However, if your spirit was in _my_ hands, not only would we be one, balanced and whole, but I could keep your soul from cracking after you discovered the truth—two birds with one stone. And now my plan has come to fruition: you know, you're mine, and we're complete."

Grinning so widely that it frightened Bella, Edward turned in place, clasping their hands tightly and brining the interlocked fingers to their chests. "You are my lightness, dear Bella, and I am your darkness," the sea witch whispered, reverent and low. "We belong together. We are one."

Unable to stop him, Bella squeezed her eyes shut as Edward leaned forward, brushing a chaste kiss upon her lips.

"We shall be together forever, as was originally intended…" he added, breathless and crazed as he dusted butterfly kisses down the slope of her neck. Bella gasped as she felt a sharp nip beside her jugular; her vision swam once more. Her chest was about to burst…!

"No…!" Strained and soft, the moan squeaked from the girl's lips with the pleading of a prayer. Her insides were on fire, her head swam—her body wanted him closer, her heart wanted him inside, and her mind couldn't stand it. Her brain threatened to shut down, close to an overload. "No—! Edward, let me go! It's… it's too awful, it's too much! I can't— I can't be here! Let me _go!_"

With a monstrous shove, Bella forced the sea witch backward—untangling their hands and managing to find her feet. Without time for recess or reflection, she immediately took off: flying across the land with a strength and speed she hadn't known feet could possess. Like an animal, she bounded down the grassy slopes, through the tangled weed-flowers, over the salt-stained boulders and towards the only home she'd ever known.

The sea.

On a cliff overlooking the rising tide, Bella fell on all fours: wheezing harder than she'd ever known possible. Her lungs burned, her heart pounded, her parched throat tasted like blood. Her torso contracted between thick, dry sobs; Edward had chosen to be particularly vindictive and temporarily give her back the use of her voice— an offering of a mocking peace— which made the pain of the waterless tears infinitely more intense.

"_God_…" the girl near-groveled, nails thick with dirt as she dug her fingers into the hard earth, trying to keep the world from spinning around her. "Why…? _Why_, God? What did I ever…?"

The answer came like lightening, even before the words had finished forming.

_The curse_. Wide-eyed, Bella blinked blearily towards the star-strewn sky, her glassy brown orbs reflecting the indigo heavens above. _My curse. To have Jacob's happiness taken away…I was the happiness. This… this is all my fault. _

"…they say that to curse someone is to dig a double-grave," Bella heard herself mutter, as if remembering a friend's advice from long ago. "I damned myself… and Edward. I'm the one who did this to him."

Instantaneously, the girl's hand lifted to clutch the cloth covering her heart: the heart the held both her own lightness, and the lost goodness of the sea witch. _A double grave…_

There was only one way to fix this.

And so Bella stood. She didn't clamor or trip, she simply got to her feet: graceful and beautiful and more sure of this than she'd ever been of anything else in her life. It was the only thing that could possibly save them, save them both— it was the least she could do for redemption.

She took a deep breath.

"_And inspirations that we deem our own…_"

She started forward, one foot in front of the other, as the evening air whipped through her locks of mahogany silk.

"…_are some divine foreshadowing and foreseeing…_"

She reached the edge of the cliff.

"…_of things beyond our reason or control._"

She jumped.

**X**

"Master…"

"Hm?" Engrossed in his shimmering necklace, Edward barely paid Alice any heed, but nonetheless waved a hand for the silhouette in the shadows to continue.

"Master, I warned you—Bella is planning to kill herself." The monotonous phantom sounded a hint anxious, as if privately concerned that she might evoke her lord's wrath. "And it is not quite midnight yet… her future isn't entirely yours."

But the shaded woman needn't have worried. In fact, the sea witch merely laughed, his smile toothy and wide as his eyes glittered like jewels.

"Whether through death or physical extraction, once her soul leaves her body it has no choice but to come to me, now— as payment for this third day on land. And, once it's in my hands, the expiration of her shell will be of no importance. As long as I own my Bella's beautiful soul, I can bring her back from the dead as often as I please. She will _never_ be able to escape me."

With a look of pure adoration and a gentle caress, Edward rubbed the conch against his cheek, chortling in delight. "So for now, my princess, do as you please. I'll allow you this one final taste of freedom."

As he spoke, there was a soft smashing in the distance— a sound too faint for human ears to hear—of a skull shattering on the rocks, and of a lifeless body being pulled out to sea.

In Edward's spindle-thin fingers, the conch shell flashed like the sun: vibrant and violet, a super-nova the color of an amethyst.

The color of Bella's future.

And then there was only darkness.

**XXX**


End file.
